The Oxford
Dictionary defines a bully as “A person who uses strength or influence to
harm or intimidate those who are weaker.” Sadly we have instances of bullying
in our own Queen Victoria Market and it is often inflicted on casual stall
holders.
Recent analysis of the trading conditions for casual
traders identified a number of instances of bullying. Bullying is usually
related to the competitive pressures within our market. An established trader
may be upset at the placement of a casual trader perceived as competition or
perhaps at the impact of the new trader’s stall setup. We are often not great
at adjusting to change.
Many of our disputes within the market are
settled with amicable discussion. It is a credit to traders generally that
despite our close confines, the fact that we are competing with each other for
business, and despite all our religious and cultural differences, we generally
get on together very well. This makes it even more difficult to understand why some
established traders take advantage of new traders and make their life difficult.
There are a few points to make here. Firstly
bullying is totally unacceptable. There are rules and procedures related to
bullying in the schoolyard and in the workplace. Secondly, if a trader has
problems with a casual stallholder placement, it is a market official, not the
casual trader, who should be questioned. And thirdly any trader who is aware of bullying should ask the offender to stop – peer pressure
can often diffuse unsavoury behaviour.
Casual stall holders are a very important part of
our market. They are potentially our future but to get there they have to
endure uncertainty and frustration as they navigate the casual allocation system.
Let’s give our casual traders a fair go. They may be the magnet that drags more
customers to our market.