Woolworths staff wear new badges in bid to prevent abuse from customers

When you enter a supermarket or retail store, it’s customary to be greeted by staff members wearing a badge that clearly displays their name, and sometimes their job role. But many Aussie shoppers may soon notice employees in their local Woolies, Kmart or Big W wearing a second badge which reads ‘I am a son’ or ‘I am a mother’.

The badges are part of the ‘No one deserves a serve’ initiative launched by the Shop, Distributor and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) which aims to “prevent and eliminate customer abuse and violence from workplaces”. They have been rolled via union organisers in a number of retail stores in a bid to make customers think twice before they subject workers to verbal or physical abuse. It comes after a number of supermarket workers across the country were badly treated by customers during the peak of panic buying triggered by the outbreak of Covid-19 earlier this year.

One woman shared her experience on Facebook this week and revealed in a Byron Bay community Facebook group that she had recently been served by a “lovely young man” at her local Woolies, who explained why he was wearing a badge that read ‘I am a son’.

“I popped into Woolies in Lennox today and was served by a lovely young man. He was wearing a second badge that said ‘I am a son’,” the woman wrote. “I started asking questions as to why, and he said it was an attempt stop the abuse that they cop.

“He said he hasn’t experienced it in Lennox yet but in Byron he did all the time because of (in his words) ‘the sense of entitlement most people there had’. It breaks my heart that young people just trying to do their job, especially during a pandemic, have to put up with this crap. If you witness it, call it out. Not ok. #bekind”

Many people commented on the post and agreed that it was a shame these badges were needed. One user wrote: “Yes I saw someone at big w with a “I am a mother” badge and thought the same thing. What a world we live in.”

Another commented: “Uniforms don’t make anyone bullet proof, at the end of the day you’re blaming a person for something that is out of EVERYONES control. Just be nice if you can’t do your groceries without being a d**k, STAY AT HOME!” While another wrote: “Good one you … there is no need for people to behave badly.”

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