A TESCO worker told today of how the experience of being threatened with a gun still gives her flashbacks as the Usdaw annual conference backed an end to the outsourcing of shop security guards.

Supporting the motion, Fenland Tesco delegate Jacqueline Ibbott said that a man had pulled a gun on her while she was at work in the spring of 2023.

“This man was taken down by police at 10 o’clock on Sunday morning. To this day, I still have flashbacks,” she said, adding that she had come within five feet of the gunman in court 18 months later.

Moving the motion, which also called for security guards to be allowed to wear stab vests, North West Tesco Retail delegate Liam Dourley warned that shop workers’ patience with abuse is “beginning to wear thin and the time for words is over.”

He said: “It’s not the shareholders that get spat at or punched, it’s the workers.”

Bringing security in-house would give a “definite line in accountability,” as contractors cannot provide “consistent coverage” of stores, Mr Dourley added,

Seconding, Sainbury’s Yorkshire delegate John Voyse described how a security colleague had suffered a concussion after being beaten on the head with a stick while challenging a shoplifter in Sheffield.

Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis said: “It’s only when we hear those stories that we can begin to understand the true impact.

“Security guards should never have to put their lives at risk. Equipping them with stab vests may, sadly, be a necessity.

“Outsourcing can drive down pay and conditions. It can make training and support less consistent. It can make it harder for workers to access union support.”