Speaking at the launch of the Mandate trade union campaign entitled ‘Respect Retail Workers’ in the TF Royal Hotel the vice chairman of the Consumers’ Association of Ireland, Castlebar councillor Michael Kilcoyne, said how pleased he was to be asked to launch the campaign. He said it was important that the public at large understood that frontline workers just carry out the policy of their employers in relation to how they treat their customers, and when consumers and members of the public have an issue in relation to the goods or services that they purchased, they should not let their anger or their frustration out on the worker.
He said that employers themselves and the owners of shops and supermarkets had a responsibility directly to the consumer and they should ensure that any issues that the consumer has are dealt with speedily and resolved to the satisfaction of the customer. He said there are many companies which hide behind their frontline staff and put their frontline staff in a situation where there is a confrontation between themselves and the consumer. He also said there are many employers who do not train their staff in how to deal with customers. “This is unacceptable,” Cllr Kilcoyne added.
