Self-Checkout Lanes Checking Out

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Turns out shoppers don’t like being turned into involuntary checkout clerks after all. Recent market studies reveal that only 16 percent of supermarket transactions in 2010 were done at self-checkout lanes in stores that provided the option, down from a high of 22 percent three years earlier. And as a result, some grocery store chains nationwide are now abandoning self-checkout lanes and unions are targeting the practice. “Supermarket chains keep trying to reduce their workforce in their endless attempts to increase their already-healthy profits, but self-checkout is an experiment that has failed—and it’s driving away customers," said Tom McNutt, President of UFCW Local 400. "As Local 400 enters negotiations with Giant and Safeway next spring, we will put the misguided practice of self-checkout high on the agenda—not only for the sake of our members, but for their customers, too,” McNutt said. Click here for McNutt’s complete statement.
- Union Communication Services