By Phil Coleman

Last updated at 09:58, Saturday, 13 December 2008

Workers at Cumbria’s nine stricken Woolworths stores have had to contend with abusive customers who expected bigger price cuts in the company’s closing down sale.

Staff have been abused at the Carlisle store

Officials from the Usdaw shop-workers union say they are appalled at the lack of compassion being shown to staff who could be out of work by Christmas.

In many shops, workers have been bombarded with complaints from angry customers who mistakenly thought stock was being sold off at half price.

Some shoppers have been so angry that they’ve yelled at staff, says the union.

In Cumbria, 266 jobs are at risk at Woolworths branches across the county as hopes of finding a buyer to take on the chain faded.

Most staff work at the chain’s English Street branch in Carlisle, where there are 48 employees, followed by the Middlegate branch in Penrith, where 42 work.

At the King Street branch in Whitehaven there are 39 employees while in Pow Street, Workington, there are 35. There are also branches at Maryport, Keswick and Barrow, as well as in Kendal and Ulvertson.

George Cain, Usdaw’s area organiser for Cumbria and the north east, said: “The staff in these shops are devastated and some are showing signs of post traumatic stress.

“Yet customers are giving them abuse because they think it’s a 50 per cent price reduction on all items.

“The small print of the posters in the window say that is only on some items.

“But customers aren’t reading that. Some are being irate and rude.

“There’s just no compassion for these workers, who are facing a very bleak future. The last thing they need is angry customers telling them they could get an item cheaper in the supermarket.

“One manager had to take her staff off the till because they were on the verge of breaking into tears. It’s like they’re picking over the bones of their lives.

“People should remember that these people are only doing their jobs.

“They’re turning up for work because they don’t want to let down their colleagues.

“They should be treated with compassion.”

No staff at the Cumbrian branches of Woolworths would speak on the record yesterday, but one said: “Every day is tough right now.

“But we’re still trading and still hoping that something can be done, but it doesn’t look very hopeful.”

Ironically, as the nationwide closing down sale ended its first day on Thursday the administrators now in charge of the company confirmed that the sale pulled in more than £30m in takings.

In the Carlisle branch of Woolworths shoppers poured in to snap up bargains.

Watching it all with a feeling of deep sadness was pensioner Mollie Lowes, who worked at the English Street branch for 32 years until 1992.

“It was always a good place to work,” said Mollie, 69, of Marks Avenue, Raffles.

“It was very strict and you had to do what you were told. But we all made a lot of friends there and the customers were always friendly.

“It will be a big miss.”

Woolworths’ 25,000 staff nationally have been warned to expect the worst.

Offers have been made for about 300 of the chain’s 800 branches but it is not clear whether they include any of those in Cumbria.

Neville Kahn, from the administrators Deloitte, said that efforts continued to find a buyer for Woolworths plc as a going concern.

He added: “While we’re still seeking bids from interested parties, Christmas is the busiest time of the year for retailers and it’s prudent to do all we can to sell existing stock.”

PColeman@cngroup.co.uk

First published at 09:00, Saturday, 13 December 2008
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk