Usdaw has begun a drive to protect shopworkers from violence. When did you launch this campaign?

John Hannett: Our 'Freedom from Fear' campaign was launched at a special conference in October last year. It consisted of one hundred representatives from stores from around the country.

We will be releasing the evidence and information gathered during our campaigning at our Annual Conference at Blackpool next week.There is growing evidence from our members of violence and abuse against shopworkers and the effect that it has on their lives and the stores where they work.

Has the amount of attacks against shopworkers increased in recent years?

John Hannett:One of the reasons we are running the campaign is that it has always been a problem for our union and our membership. However, we are concerned by the increase in both verbal and physical assaults on shopworkers.

In terms of physical attacks, when we had our conference in October, we launched a report called "Voices from the Frontline", which was based on a survey of around 100 union reps' experiences of violence and abuse in their stores. With regard to physical violence, 47 per cent reported physical attacks or assaults on staff in their stores in the last 12 months.

This ties in as well with the results of the British Retail Consortium's annual Retail Crime Survey which has showed a sharp rise in attacks in recent years.

We were also concerned with threats of physical violence. 72 per cent of the reps confirmed threats of physical violence and in addition to that there were the incidents of verbal abuse, which is an issue which has increased over the years. Basically incidents of verbal abuse are a daily occurrence in over a third of the stores. 86 per cent of our activists said they has witnessed or received verbal abuse in the past year alone.

These figures tie in with the BRC's statistics which are based on reports from companies. These show why we needed to run the campaign and look for a number of outcomes.

So what should the government do to address this problem?

John Hannett: We are lobbying ministers to make this a key performance indicator for the police. One of the worries we've got is many of the incidents are either not responded to or acted upon.

An Early Day Motion was put down in Parliament by Tom Watson and a significant number of MPs has signed up. It was also mentioned in prime minister's question time with a supportive response by Tony Blair to the Usdaw campaign.

We also want to work with local government to give long-term funding to Safer Shopping Partnerships which the BRC have helped to set up in over 250 town centres so far. We also have a lot of support of the local authorities on dealing with this issue and we hope that a lot more partnerships can be set up as they can be very effective.

And we are working with employers. We're doing a lot of work with our members to hear what they're particular stories are and to make sure that safeguards are in place. We have provided model policies for our negotiating officials and local union representatives to deal with safety issues. We also ask companies to do risk assessments and to put preventative measures in place.

The issue of violence, whether it is verbal or physical, can't be solved by the employers alone. But it can be in solved in partnership with other agencies, including the government, the police and local authorities.

How much is this situation costing the economy?

John Hannett: It is a significant cost. The BRC's latest survey of retail crime showed that the value of losses from crime were £1.8 billion with £600 million being spent by retailers on crime prevention.

And that does not include the cost of staff days lost due to injury from violence or due to stress caused by abuse and threats received at work. In our survey, 'Voices from the Frontline' over a third of the reps (38 per cent) reported that staff in their stores had complained of ill health due to the fear of violence and abuse. And 41 per cent knew of staff who had given up work or changed their jobs because of fear of violence.

So those are very considerable costs and we hope that some retailers will start to collect that information very soon because it will show that the actual costs of violence and abuse are far higher than those of loss and crime prevention.

This links in with the other aspect of the campaign which is a "Respect for Shop Workers" programme. One of the concerns we've got is that although shop workers provide a valuable service to the consumer, there is an issue over the lack of respect given to them and the amount of abuse and harassment that shopworkers receive from customers. We will be organising a "Respect for Shop Workers" day on 17 September.

We have signed a charter on this with the British Retail Consortium. Several retailers have already signed up as well and we are hoping that more of these employers will work with us on this. It will include a petition to be signed by shop workers and shoppers.

Are you in favour of harsher sentences for convicted offenders?

John Hannett: We are certainly keen for the issue to be treated seriously, and those guilty of violence - physical or verbal - on retail workers should be dealt with in an appropriate way. One of the reasons why we want the police to work with us is that we are keen for them to provide an immediate response and for it to be a key performance indicator.

There are also examples of people moving from store to store. There are a lot of anti-social behaviour issues in play and we want to see Anti-Social Behaviour Orders used more to ban persistent offenders from town centres and shopping areas where they cause a particular problem. Smaller stores, with fewer employees are particularly at risk. Clearly we want to address this as part of the debate.

Do large shops provide better protection than smaller ones?

John Hannett: Violence and abuse can happen in any town in any store. Small stores are at risk of street gangs or people hanging around on street corners but it can happen in large stores too. Stores trading seven days a week for 24 hours a day are always at risk. It would be wrong to portray it as a problem which occurs in only certain areas of the country. It really is a national problem.

Is it a case of the shops not providing sufficient protection?

John Hannett: The reason it is a joined up campaign with the various stakeholders is that the employers can't solve, no matter what security measures they take, all the social and disorder problems., That's why we're working with the BRC and employers, not against them.

What we are saying to the employers though is that we want the appropriate policies in place to deal with the issue. So the reason we provided these model policies is that risk assessments need to be carried out in each store to assess the problems.

There are some practical measures that employers can take. The layout of the store, the lighting of the shop and its car parks are all crucial.

But it does, in the end, come down to a wider problem, and that is why we are lobbying the government and other stakeholders. The retailers themselves can't solve all the problems.

What support have you had from Politicians?

John Hannett: We have received an enormous amount of support from politicians. We sent our "Freedom from Fear" pack and the "Voices from the Frontline" survey to MPs, MSPs and Welsh Assembly members and the responses have been really encouraging - not only in signing the Early Day Motion but also becoming involved and supporting our Respect for Shop Workers Day. I think they were quite surprised at the level of day to day verbal and physical abuse that retail workers face.

What is going to be happening at your conference?

John Hannett: I will be moving a statement at our annual conference which starts next Sunday. The debate on the "Freedom to Fear" campaign will be held on Tuesday 29th April at 9.30am. We are showing a video of many of our members telling their stories of the violence and abuse that they have received and the effect it has had on them. It also gives an opportunity for our members at the Conference to tell their own stories and we believe the debate will be in-depth - there will be numerous speakers recounting their own experiences.

We are also launching a magazine called Respect that gives details of the campaign so far and encourages more of our members to get involved in making their stores safer and to take part in the Respect for Shopworkers Day on 17 September.