Fernie Chamber of Commerce is leading the campaign to encourage residents and visitors to be respectful, patient and kind with staff at local businesses.
The push comes as the Chamber is making efforts to support Fernie’s businesses and their workers as they navigate worker shortages and the evolving public health guidelines.
“Fernie’s frontline staff are absolutely critical to the success of our businesses and local economy. Unfortunately, there have been a handful of recent incidents of staff in local businesses being treated poorly by customers. We understand that people are tired, and frustrations are high. Fernie businesses are doing their best to provide exceptional customer service, but there are strong headwinds that some of our businesses are navigating with the twin impacts of labour shortages and the pandemic,” said Brad Parsell.
Chamber officials said the campaign will feature posters displayed in local businesses and an ongoing social media campaign. Residents will be encouraged to share their messages of support to frontline workers.
“Let’s go out of our way to be kind and supportive to the workers we do have that show up every day and try to deliver a remarkable experience while on the backfoot. Thank them. Let them know they’re appreciated and that these ever-changing rules are not their fault. Taking out your frustrations on frontline workers is completely unacceptable, regardless of your situation or your ideology,” said Parsell.
Posters can be printed from the Fernie Chamber website or picked up from 2nd Edition Coworking in the Free Press building between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.