FOR International Workers’ Memorial Day this year, Usdaw is highlighting the risks many front-line workers are taking to help keep the rest of us safe and healthy. 

Healthcare workers in particular are risking their lives doing their job to take care of the sick. 

Many others, like Usdaw members in supermarkets and delivering the food supply chain, are providing essential services and deserve our thanks for everything they are doing. 

We urge the public to observe a one-minute silence at 11am today to remember those workers we’ve lost to Covid-19.

More people are killed at work than in wars. They died because their safety just wasn’t a priority. 

So today we “remember the dead and fight for the living” by highlighting our all-year-round campaigning for better health and safety at work. 

Shopworkers and their colleagues in the retail food supply chain are on the front line of feeding the country during the current crisis. 

They are providing an essential service in very difficult circumstances, working long hours in busy stores, facing abuse from customers and of course they are concerned they may contract Covid-19. 

This year we should take time to recognise the heroic efforts they are making in very difficult circumstances, alongside many other front-line workers. 

A one-minute silence at 11am for those we’ve lost is a fitting tribute.

Usdaw continues to work with employers to improve health and safety for staff, particularly those dealing directly with the public. 

We also call on customers to stay calm, respect shopworkers and practise the necessary hygiene measures to help limit the spread of the virus. 

We were shocked that a survey of our members found that violence, threats and abuse have doubled during this national emergency. 

At a time when we should all be working together to get through this crisis, it is a national disgrace that people working to keep food on the shelves for their local communities are being abused and assaulted. 

Urgent action is required. Our message is clear — abuse is not part of the job.

Life on the front line of retail is normally pretty tough for many shopworkers and has become much worse during the coronavirus emergency. 

The safety of our members is absolutely paramount, but they tell us that some of the shopping public are resisting social distancing measures in stores and can become abusive when asked to queue and maintain a two-metre gap. 

Our message to the public is there is no excuse for abusing shopworkers, please treat our members with the respect they deserve.

So there needs to be action to help protect staff. We want the government to legislate for stiffer penalties for those who assault workers — a simple stand-alone offence that is widely recognised and understood by the public, police, Crown Prosecution Service, the judiciary and, most importantly, criminals. 

Retail staff have a crucial role in our communities and that role must be valued and respected — they deserve the protection of the law.

Shops are the cornerstone of our communities, but they can only operate with staff, who clearly do not have the option to work from home. 

We continue to work with retailers to improve health and safety for staff. We also call on customers to stay calm and respect shopworkers.

Strong unions are the best protection for workers. Workplaces that have strong union representation typically have much lower fatality, injury and ill-health rates than those that do not. 

Research in this country and abroad has shown repeatedly that unions make a difference.

Paddy Lillis is general secretary of shopworkers’ union Usdaw.