Why the retail union is ‘a little nervous’ about shops reopening today

Retailers across Melbourne will today open their doors for the first time in months, as the lockdown restrictions on retail ease.

But the Shop, Distributive and Employees Association (SDA) is concerned customer conduct will quickly decline.

National Secretary of the SDA, Gerard Dwyer, says he hopes customers will “get out and enjoy” their local shops, but he has urged them to be kind to shop assistants.

“Be respectful today,” he said.

“Just remember those people there are trying to serve you and they deserve your respect.

“We just want to make sure that the patience lasts because we’re not that far from Christmas, which is our peak season, and that’s when we generally see a spike in incidences of customer bad behaviour.”

Mr Dwyer said there is also some concern about COVID-19 spreading.

“I guess everyone is a little nervous, but we are more keen to make sure the community now can start these steps back to normal,” he said.

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