the “free” labor is already offset by the higher frequency of theft at self-checkout.
They eliminated cashiers and keep the profits. NY Democrats are fighting back.
Submitted 1 month ago by VetOfTheSeas@discuss.online to workreform@lemmy.world
https://discuss.online/pictrs/image/b87ce413-92f2-4249-9dcd-e613cac9280e.png
Comments
adarza@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 1 month ago
weird how labor is in quote and “theft” isn’t
Smaile@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
couldnt they just increse the price by 11% and make it moot?
isleepinahammock@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
No. Because that would require raising the prices at the regular check-out as well. And companies cannot just raise prices as high as they want. The prices you see in the grocery store are already the company’s best estimate for the highest price the market will bear.
idiomaddict@lemmy.world 1 month ago
If every grocery store did this, that is the market. We can’t decide to not eat, and even with a 10% markup, grocery stores are still cheaper than most other options.
OwOarchist@pawb.social 1 month ago
They could, but grocery stores are highly competitive on price.
If a different grocery store doesn’t take that approach, people will go to the place where everything is 10% cheaper.
TheHound@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I’m fine not having cashier’s, will happily pay the extra to not have to interact with someone.
gandalf_der_13te@feddit.org 1 month ago
these things are pay-as-you-want checkout IMO
Arachnidbrilliant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
Even if a store with self checkout have a 10% discount for people using it. Wouldn’t they just mark everything up by 10% to compensate?
Nonconfrontational@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
Sounds like they should be socialized, then.
ShotDonkey@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Bad idea because companies will frame it as “going the cashier route will cost you 10% more!” while you pay the old price st the self check-out. Here in Europe a lot of groceries are being shoplifted at the self checkout. People are taking their own discounts. Newer self checkouts now have cameras built in and random controls are so freqent they are a huge annoyance. Spermarkets seem to be pissed.
DebraBucket@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Won’t this just encourage people to use self-checkout as it will make using an employed checkout lane more expensive?
I don’t think many people know how harmful self-checkout is to their neighbors employed the store. I made a comment to a Costco employee about how I was glad they added the hand scanners to self-checkout, and their response was to educate me that self-checkout isn’t good for the employees because it means fewer jobs. I’m was so self-absorbed in my own day-to-day life that I did not even think about the impact it had on Costco employees. I didn’t even think about the fact that here I am talking about this pain point of self-checkout (having to use the stationary scanner) and relief about having a better option (the hand scanner) when the best option is already there (employees handling the checkout). The real solution is to just open up more jobs, hire more employees to do the scanning and bagging.
I went to Aldi recently. You have to put a quarter in to get a shopping cart (I haven’t carried around quarters in ages). The shelves often get into a state of disarray. The line for the 1 employee doing checkout is massive, but self-checkout is also a huge pain in the ass. Continuously cutting jobs to increase profits is a race to the bottom, and yet people who can barely afford groceries think they couldn’t live without a discount chain like Aldi. We are saving pennies by giving up our time doing our own checkout, when we could be getting paid to check people out, providing them some convenience and doing so more efficiently instead. I’ll add that many items at Aldi’s are actually more expensive than at other grocery stores, if you’re not paying attention you could end up paying more than a place with more employed checkout lanes.
OnyxRex@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
I’m sorry, but you must be a new Aldi shopper. The quarter thing has been their model for ages. Often you, or others will just leave a quarter in their cart when they put it back. The self check out is new, but Aldi is one of those stores that actually does pass the saving on to it’s customers. It’s always 20-30% cheaper at Aldi than other stores in my area. The exception being big name brand stuff but the store brand is def cheaper. $4 for a 12 pack of knock-off coke vs 13 for name brand at the other stores? it’s a no-brainer.
DebraBucket@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I’m sorry, but you must be a new Aldi shopper
It was the first time I had shopped at an Aldi in like a decade. A friend buys my kid these snacks she loves, that are only at Aldi, so I went to check it out. The quarter thing was one of several PITAs I experienced.
It’s always 20–30% cheaper at Aldi than other stores in my area
That wasn’t my experience. There’s a Smart & Final nearby that has most of the basics at similar or lower cost, especially if you go with store brand. While I was at Aldi I was doing price comparisons against the other stores I go to (using their apps, knowing the price in app is usually higher) and found many items were more expensive at Aldi. Frozen fish was one thing I remember being higher at Aldi. It seems like they drop prices on some items but get you on other items, which is what a lot of grocery stores do.
I recall, Aldi does actually pay its workers well
I’d believe that but that’s because there are maybe 3 employees in the entire store. One at checkout, and two running around handling everything else. I figured that’s why the shelves were not arranged well, there’s no one with the time to clean things up after shoppers make a mess. This was a fairly large Aldi too, almost as big as the S&F in my neighborhood. The difference is at the S&F they open up more checkouts when things get busy.
Sabrinamycarpet@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
An employee check out lane is not always the best option. I like self check out lanes because it is more efficient for me and the lines will move faster because there can be more machines open.
An employee lane is great when you need assistance, like for elderly or less technically adept people and they should maintain a balance of both. Also agree that they should not charge 10% more to people who use this lane.
A blanket 10% discount should apply to everyone in a store that has self checkout lanes.
As to employees losing jobs because of self checkout, cashier is not a super fulfilling job that needs to exist in abundance. Preferably new jobs open up that offer better opportunities to people than just scanning and bagging things and collecting cash.
buddascrayon@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Now watch as Hochul kills it because “it’s bad for the economy”.
GalacticRobot@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I mean overall it would be terrible for the economy, grocery stores would just raise prices another 10%.
CrowAirbrush@lemmy.world 1 month ago
At first they promised us it would keep the prices down, I already knew that’s not how businesses operate but hey…I got no influence over this so let’s see how it works out.
A few years after grocery prices triple with all kinds of excuses, yes excuses…claims about how what when where and why it happened which all turned out to in reality be nothing more then a temporary nuisance, but prices never went down because duhh it’s a business.
So here we are, paying the wages for jobs we do ourselves and a 200% tip to boot.
I really think we should keep track of the amount of time spent at the self checkout and make a bill for the store manager under the title: “freelance register operator” at a polite $40 bucks an hour.
kinther@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Fuck yeah. I can get behind this 1000%
Faithless@lemmy.world 1 month ago
This is progress. It’s stupid to fight it. Progress has always eliminated jobs but created new ones.
CADmonkey@lemmy.world 1 month ago
The fun part that I have heard from a few retail managers is that the software that the self checkout uses costs as much or more per month than the employee would have.
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 1 month ago
They saw how popular Mamdami is and saw the writing on the wall.
We don’t need to replace every single one of them, just enough to scare the rest.
HubertManne@piefed.social 1 month ago
some stores got rid of or reduced them a lot so there must be some downside.
fishy@lemmy.today 1 month ago
Theft, massive amounts of theft. Both intentional and unintentional.
Hedup@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Otherwise customers can unilaterally enforce the discount.
makeshift0546@lemmy.today 1 month ago
The absolute bullshit that Dems pulls. Anything but grow a spine.
What a worthless effort blowing political capital that’s going to make stores less likely let me avoid having some cashier bagging for me poorly and going slow as fuck.
Smaile@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
ny need to make it own city grocer if they want to combat the chains
Tolc@lemmy.world 1 month ago
“democrats” “fighting for worker rights”, are we doing this in big 26? No wonder american left is dead.
thermal_shock@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Who do you propose to stand up? Orange lunatic team sure isn’t, if you look long enough, they’re helping bleed us dry.
Tolc@lemmy.world 1 month ago
a third party would be a good start, heck even greens are a good upgrade.
chunes@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I think many people already get a 10% discount on all items at self-checkout.
Sirdubdee@piefed.social 1 month ago
Stores could just add a 10% fee for using a manned checkout lane and make more money instead of discounting merch.
Doublenut@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
Not to mention how irrelevant that comment is. He’s talking about grocers in Germany while this article pertain solely to the state of New York in America where grocers have made record profits over the last 5 years.
melsaskca@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
That’s funny. I’ve never once used self-checkout, my main reason being, if they’re not giving me a 10% discount for using my labour, then I ain’t playing.
Amir@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
They also make you stand in line for 10min for the one cashier, and that 10min is worth more than the smugness of not using self checkout
melsaskca@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
I disagree. I’ve never been afraid to be alone with my thoughts and I roll and rhyme with the movement of time. Good place to make small talk and reconnect with the world around you. I get it though, in this world of capitalism we live in, time seems to be defined as “money”. I’m not smugly standing there though, just trying my best not to be abused by the corporations.
ITGuyLevi@programming.dev 1 month ago
Where I live the self checkout lines are just as long, at least with the one cashier, they know how to operate the damn machine. Lol
kikutwo@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Now calculate the amount of free labor forces by municipalities on their residents who are required to handle all the recycling while the towns get paid for the material.
caboose2006@lemmy.world 1 month ago
They’re only getting paid for aluminium. Everything else is a net loss.
kikutwo@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Recycling processing facilities (MRFs) pay towns a rebate based on the market price per ton for specific commodities: Aluminum Cans: $1,000 to $1,800+ per ton (The most consistent money-maker)
Corrugated Cardboard (OCC): $40 to $150+ per ton (The largest revenue volume driver) Natural HDPE Plastics (#2 Milk Jugs): $300 to $800+ per ton
PET Plastics (#1 Soda/Water Bottles): $150 to $400+ per ton
Steel / Tin Cans: $100 to $250 per ton Mixed Office Paper: $30 to $90 per ton
sudoer777@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
So now everyone will use self checkout and cashiers will lose their jobs?
Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 1 month ago
Turnover of cashier jobs is ridiculously high. They aren’t losing their jobs. They are leaving shitty jobs where they have been heavily exploited by dickhead employers, and they aren’t being replaced.
WFloyd@lemmy.world [bot] 1 month ago
$300 billion is complete BS and you know it
Indie@lemmy.world 1 month ago
But won’t this put human cashiers out of a job ?
MrRandom@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
I wonder how much is forgotten to scan
rounding_error@lemmy.today 1 month ago
They have annoying little AI cameras and sensors to make sure you do :)
MrRandom@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
true, but not airtight
source: I forgot something, so it was.free.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 1 month ago
I get the spirit is in the right place, but wouldn’t this just incentivize self-checkout and accelerate the obsolescence of human cashiers?
pulsey@feddit.org 1 month ago
or increase the normal prices to compensate the 10% discount
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Only works if everyone does it.
jumping_redditor@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
that is a net positive outcome
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 1 month ago
Only if it comes with UBI