Hungary: Verbal violence, at least once a week!

The survey conducted by KASZ union of Hungary in 2021 revealed that violence and harassment fuelled by the pandemic was a weekly if not a daily experience for commerce workers.

According to the survey:

· 20% of respondents reported that they experienced physical violence from a customer.

· 40% of workers did not report the incident and 86% of the workers who reported the incident did not get any support from their managers.

· 87% of workers said they experienced verbal abuse by a customer.

· On being asked “How often are customers rude to you?” 9% said “never”, 33% said “once a month”, 29% said “once a week”, 14% said “once a day” and 15% said “more than once a day”.

· While 19% of respondents said yes when they were asked if they were respected at work; 39% said “no” and 42% said “maybe”.

Voices from the frontline: “I am going to slit your throat”

In the survey, KASZ asked participants “What was the rudest thing that a customer said to you?” Here are some answers:

· “I will wait for you outside and I will beat you.”

· “I am going to slit your throat, you fuc.ing bi.ch.”

· “Commerce workers are the bottom of the society.”

· “You don’t deserve a ‘hello’, because you are a sh.t!”

· “You are a slave.”

· “You have to lick my a.s; this is your job.”

· “You are all losers because you work in a supermarket.”

The survey results are taken from Nikoletta Kiss’s presentation in UNI Commerce Webinar on Violence and Harassment in Commerce, 17.11.2021