Retailers warned that raising wages would "force" them to raise prices and to use automated checkout. Fed min wage remained flat, but they raised prices & used automated checkout anyway. Result: Workers got even poorer as customer service plummeted while prices & profits soared.
Retailers also claim using self checkout frees staff to perform other customer services. Bullshit. Went to Lowes the other day. Saw only two staffers in the entire store. The only option was self checkout, so I left my full cart and walked out.
And then one of those two staffers spent an hour putting everything back
Right. They used to employ CASHIERS, whose only duty was to handle the monetary transactions of the store. They got rid of them and dumped remaining cashier duties on Customer Service personnel, who now have no time to assist customers with anything else.
You did not go to a Lowes that only had 2 staffers.
And this is why my family doesn't use the self checkout.
it's always about protecting wealth
I've pointed this out myself. Funny how it worked out that way.
Self checkouts at my grocery store seem to be using AI to check if I am stealing and it seems like every third item I have to stop and wait for an employee to come over and count my items after they are done assisting the other half dozen people in self checkout.
Wohoo yay capitalism
Those silly fools will soon realize if they want any workers (that can afford to work at their fine establishment) is they will have to pay them at a minimum a living wage. No more SNAP, Medicaid cuts, and Trump tariff prices hikes on basis goods will require them to pay much higher wages.
The problem is, everyone's desperate currently. Lots of people need jobs even if it only barely covers their necessities. And those that do have jobs are scared of losing them. This will only change when for the masses it becomes impossible to actually buy things.
I prefer self-checkout. To hell with naysayers who say they're not going to bag their own stuff! That said, everyone should get a living wage.
Keep believing corporate America. They only want the money.
I was working for a company that implemented these measure in "preparation". "Record profits! Oh, by the way we'll have to lay a lot of you off, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."
Just link min wage to inflation. They will soon realise that they need to cut elsewhere.
It’s now your duty to steal anything you can from those automated check-outs!! RESIST!!!
Doing so will definitely raise the prices, because the store will have to cover the loss.
Not for everyone getting stuff for free. Maybe they’ll realize hiring someone to work the check-out is cheaper than the alternative of leaving their merchandise open to theft.
Except stores that have self checkout are going back to having cashiers because many customers either are accidently or deliberately bagging some goods without paying for them. And the stores don't have enough workers to check all the bags and receipts.
Funny how that logic works, one of many lies my favorite brought to us by ronnie regan was trickle down economics I didn't buy it in 1979 and not now. Make rich people richer and it will trickle down to us, that's what Republicans said BULLSHIT THEN AND NOW, GROWS THIER SAVINGS AND ASSETS
Lower your inflated profit margin expectations.
Look I get running a business means you make more then your employees, but there should be a cap. Force the trickle down. If you own more then one house, a yacht, privet jet/helicopter, then you can afford to pay your employees a living wage at all stages of employment!
Capitalism working as intended.
Star Trek legend Mike Okuda posting evidence of the inherent contradictions of capitalism? based.
Hey, remember those ATM user fees. They were introduced to pay for the network infrastructure installation. Well that infrastructure has been paid a thousand times over now. Have those fees been removed?
Sure instead of making 100 million they make make 90 million but they have to raise prices not too touch their 100 million its the biggest bullshit played on America for how long now ?
Retailers here in UK are lying to the public if they say they need to raise prices. They are swimming in profits.
To believe anything coming from a corporate mouthpiece is to number yourself among the gullible ripe for having your pockets torn as they empty them.
I don’t use their automated checkout for this very reason, that is taking away someone’s job. I would also bet that if the stores that rely on automated checkout are honest about it, they are losing more money due to theft than when they had cashier’s checking people out. Just my opinion.
I refuse to use automated checkouts and have 99% stopped going to major supermarket ripoff brands
they lied. blame the weak.. the normality of fascism.
Funny how that works meanwhile the CEO gets a 200% raise and makes 5 million a year.
Sounds just like corporate America.
Yep, End Stage Capitalism sucks!
Remember when ATMs came into being, and they told us we would soon have to pay to see a live teller because automation was so much cheaper for the bank?
Bank of America came close. I remember when my branch let you check your balance at the ATM for free, but talking to a teller was $2. I dropped them like a hot rock.
Facts
All of this is true. They were always going to do this.
I don't shop at any stores with self checkout. If you can't hire someone to take my money, you don't get my money.
And now we just have both and no employees get paid more and we pay more. Clown ass country…
They’re charging a dollar per dang egg and can’t afford to hire any cashiers or baggers?
In the 1980’s Americans were sold “increase shareholder value” line re: corporations’ ONLY mission, as pensions were killed & workers forced to save for retirement via 401K’s (stock market). And that’s how & why working class Americans were duped into being ok w/ mass layoffs & wage stagnation.
Sorry to break some myths here: after rising profit margin between 2020-2023, they are back to pre-pandemic levels (1-2%) . Similar for large food producers. Greed is not the simple comfortable explanation now - many factors and pressures along the chain.
If capitalism cannot pay workers get rid of it.
Same kind of scare tactics are used when considering universal healthcare.
Dems need national minimum wage platform stance. Maybe $12 - $15 per hour.
25$ anything else is dem cowardice.
Exactly like they wanted. #ClassWar
What's amazing is the retailer Aldi proves that higher wages don't cause higher prices as in the UK they have the highest wages in retail, and the lowest prices in the country.
I use cashiers at all stores for this very reason
Not a bad point, but I also feel like looking at the fed min is a bad metric, since a small and declining portion of the workforce make that. the better metric might be something like the 10th percentile income.
This guy knows his shit.
The "telling" part is when they put in or took out the automated checkout, not a single employee had their hourly wage changed. It's never been about the welfare of their employees. They're boxes on an org chart with lists If raising wages forces a company to make changes... Collective bargaining.
Bullshit. They're all just a batch of greedy bastards. More for them than most of their employees wages combined and that's the way they like it.
It's all about the bottom line 😔
If two people have $1 to spend on a product they need, and the seller sets the price at $1, then both people can get the product they need, and the seller gets $2. If one person has $1.50 & another has .50, then the seller charges .50 & gets $1, or $1.50 and gets $1.50, & the person with .50 dies.
Things get even worse when one person has $2, and the other person has .25. Now the seller could charge .25 and get .50, or charge $2 and get $2. Because, as I laid out this is something they both NEED. If it was something they both wanted, then fuck it, who cares? Let the rich have it for $2.
So, when you have a bunch of rich people who can buy what they need for $100,000, and poor people who don't even have $100... Most sellers, especially when they're machines like corporations who are now required by law to make as much profit as possible, don't care what the poor can afford.
Nowhere in any of this did you mention the cost of the product. Shows a basic misunderstanding of the way economics works.
The seller grew it, it's free. The seller had it manufactured for $0.10 It doesn't fucking matter for my point.
I only have 300 characters per post and I think my point was made without trying to teach and entire economics class in 300 character chunks.
Trusting corporations and getting fleeced, it’s a tale as old as The Crown… 😆
shoplifting at self-checkout is child's play - i suspect retailer losses from shrinkage have ballooned in the case of self- checkout
The lesson we NEED to learn: Ignore "Or." After they get their way, they will do it anyhow, because, and I'm paraphrasing their rich person/CEO viewpoint: "Fuck you! What will you do?! You already caved to us, and we'll take more, you fucking pussies!"
What happened in 2019 ? is that the Trump tax bill ? fred.stlouisfed.org/series/N3237...
Self checkout never lowered prices. I never use self checkout and encourage others to never use it too. Job killers plain and simple. And dont order pizza online if theres a number you can call
Surprise.
Any excuse for the Filthy rich to make more money. They blame everything for raising prices. Meanwhile, average people won't be able to afford buying things, causing sales to eventually drop, forcing the retailers to close. Many stores are filing for bankruptcy.
🙄
It's interesting how raising wages will supposedly pass the cost down to the consumer. But when CEO and executive pay skyrockets no one says that cost will be passed onto the consumer.
And more employees are merely “independent contractors” with no contributions to Social Security by employer or employee. The laborer will accrue no retirement benefits and the program will be insolvent sooner. A real coup de grâce for many American workers.
I wonder to whom will they sell once all industries fire almost all people with all the automation. No it's not the same as the industrial revolution, not even close
I had a similar conversation about when robots and AI will replace our other jobs. Because of which, the other person said, the government will pay us so we can spend money at places with robots and AI. That means those businesses will have to pay taxes, which they won't.
LOL, I think they will have to place that in the dictionary as the definition of "naive"
A lot of non-rich technofascists believe that the benevolent techlords will give us UBI to live on when they have replaced all workers with AI.
Politicians will never give us a true UBI, but we can build one ourselves. And it's about time we actually do so.
How?
Short answer or link to full thread discussing the topic?
Both. But if you don't control the law you can't do shit. For example, "approved" money lenders make money, banks, etc.... You do it and you are an illegal loan shark. So yes, I'm curious how you would do this without needing them or at least without them objecting
Build out volunteer programs and network with the supply chain. Build narrow currency systems for specific domains. Have NGOs which manage their respective domain's volunteer networks, narrow currency, etc. Finally use those narrow currencies to build a healthy general economic currency w/ UBI.
None of this system is inherently non-compliant with current law. It allows building a whole side national infrastructure which could then subsume current state based infrastructure.
Definitely. And, our leaders, economists and IT bros piss me off when they describe AI and robots as the next industrial revolution. Not to worry. We can blame immigrants for what comes next. :(
In the movie "I robot" that is one part I don't think they ever touch, probably because not even sifi can come with a credible answer to that conundrum.
When I use self checkout I always mess it up so that a real person has to fix it.
Always for the boss
Sure does sound like Walmart and Home Depot.
Minimal wage has minimal impact on prices.
Self checkout was on the chopping block for a while there, too. It just invites people to apply the 5 finger discount.
Of course!!
in how many places is the fed minimum wage the actual minimum wage that you can pay someone? that's not to say they're right, but let's be real here...
And now they are eliminating self checkout because of loss prevention. How did that work for them?
No one likes automated check out. No one.
The consequence of the labor theory of value. We value "jobs" so much that people are afraid of robots taking the work. Coal miners, for example, are so entrenched in labor value that dying early due to complications of a horrible life in mines is preferred to changing fields. Trickle trickle.
bsky.app/profile/arem...
I want my neighbors to have paychecks. If you want to institute a UBI, I'm more than happy to use self check. Until then, people need jobs.
I don't want to be a dick, we are saying the same thing. I'm just saying the reason you said the words "until then, people need jobs." Is called the labor theory of value, we have a LABOR economy. Sometimes referred to as Keynesianism, or supply side economics. The consequence of which is
Viewing 7.85 an hour as "worth the labor" to literally drown and sink into debt...even in some cases cutting years off their lives to have nothing but "at least they worked for it." You change that by educating people where the system is broken, why it is broken because of that, and options.
UBI is one of those options, using demand to make supplies is one too, we throw away ass tons of food...yet people labor intensively in fields for food that never sees a plate. But we still pay them cause we have a fucked up view of labor...they could do something else...but you'll tell me they
Need money so they can't just go do what they want....and I'll again point to how sad that is that we can't cause jobs. Sometimes people comment on stuff to add to it, not just argue with it, in this case I was attempting to spark people's curiosity by introducing labor theory...in hopes people
May go learn what that is. Your comment however, does illustrate how engrained it is...even discussing it is paradoxically rejected for "to keep jobs"
Yeah. You're preaching to the choir, but I appreciate your enthusiasm.
I shouldn't be so heavy handed with breadcrumbs hoping people might take interest in things the way I did. I have a couple projections I still hold on to. Thinking people want to think like me because wanted to, and thinking that how we get to the answer is as important as the answer.
It's honestly time someone or multiple someones point out that when we asked in 08 for minimum wage raises, those bitches said we'd end up right here if we got them. That implies forgoing that raise would avoid this....if we're here where the fuck are they? Oh yea. Rich as fuck. Fuck em.
But what was great is that theft got so high that they had to bring back the cashiers.
Tip of the day - Keep an eye on the shifts in the coffee market. My observations lead me to believe that covfefe will soon be, not only much more expensive, but also scarce.
If a business cannot survive if employees are paid a living wage, the business should fail.
Yeah, we're real tire of that old explanation. And, you will still hear it today.
Systemic corruption.
We absolutely need to eat the rich. Because there is no ethical billionaire and right now the evil people are ruining everything and trying to control everything
But the shareholder value!
Because fed is the only thing that influence wage pressure right? There are no other factors at all great logic.
There are more billionaires than ever.
How to know if you don't have inflation, record profits follow price increases.
What you failed to say is Retailers are assholes. 2026 2028 We have work to do.
There's a word for that: exploitation. And it will keep going on until we start fighting back en masse because there are a hell of a lot more of us than them.
Sounds a lot like this! Workers being converted to 'consumers' and progressively marginalized: youtu.be/4pG-8XLLaE0?...
That’s what’s happening while we are being distracted with the military occupying the streets of U.S. Racism is being used to divide the poor & scratching for the crumbs the rich decide to drop. Government officials capitalizing off the people’s ignorance & pain.
They didn’t automate because of wages; they automated because profit margins are hungrier than people.
The other day at #Goodwill I had a cashier that was on the phone the whole transaction, but using an earbud; so naturally I kept asking "what?" And she kept pointing to her ear to let me know she wasn't talking to me. THE PERSON IN FRONT OF HER. I'M the silly one for interrupting her call? Pfft.
Lol, I just encountered that very same thing. At first I thought the guy was just talking to himself and being weird. Then he moved his hair and I saw the earbud 😂
Our generation has been beaten so much that we don't even want the people in front of us to talk to us; we'd rather stare at a screen. The end is very fucking nigh. Soon, we'll leave the planet to these devices, they will carry on until their power is out, then it will be like we were never here.
But then tariffs were introduced, and they were told by Trump to not raise prices because of it… and they, for the most part, have resisted it, as much as they could. Even though tariffs increased their costs by more than wage increases ever would… Seems like it’s all garbage.
Shoplifting went through the roof with automated checkout so they screwed themselves as they screwed workers.
The 2008 spike. RIP💀. The "economy" was always a scam. Its been only getting more obvious.
That Covid spike too. Taking advantage of any chance to fuck everyone over.
A crisis for the common man just means the billionairs get to buy up ever more of the world. The billionair doesnt suffer in a economic down turn he benefits and thats why they keep manufacturing them. The AI crash is up next.
Soon all retail jobs will be obsolete due to automation.
Just liars ... they're all just liars
Slowly boiling frogs are we
Well, with the auto checkouts theft became a huge issue so then they locked everything up in cases. Now everyone is mad, workers take the brunt of anger from customers who are annoyed.😑
Some corporations noticed the theft and are removing the self checkout lanes. Apparently they didn’t agree with the customers who decided to extract payment for their labor.
These are the people who need Medicaid and SNAP the most and the government is cutting them off.
We need a national strike.
I never use "automated" self-checkout. I figure that a part of what I am paying for the goods is ear-marked for customer service. And I want to get what I'm paying for.
I use the scanner as you walk round and may occasionally accidentally scan an 18 box of Stella as a 4 pack.. I’m not trained for this job 🤷♂️
😂not trained😂
They want us to do all of our work ➕Plus their’s I feel like my country is a bully who keeps making me do this homework (because he’s dumb)
Any time there's a perceived alternative to paying people, big business will grasp it with both hands.
Retailers are lying. They just want to squeeze thrir workers as much as they can.
We bend over and take it every single time.
i go to the human check out person 99% of the time, even if i have only a few items. stores don't pay ME to scan and bag my own groceries. I was a cashier in a store - i get it.
Self checkout lanes are going away because too many customers decided to get paid for their forced labor by stealing stuff.
Minimum wage shouldn't be set at the federal level, the minimum wage to survive in San Diego, CA is not going to be the same as in Biloxi Mississippi
States or cities can go above, but there should still be a raised federal wage minimum because $7.25/hr doesnt pay for shit anywhere in this country.
I think they should eliminate the federal minimum wage completely and instead have a law that requires states to set minimum wages by wage areas based off of wage surveys and cost of living data similar to how the federal government determines pay for federal jobs in different areas
That’s why taking shit without paying is entirely guilt free now.
As long as it’s big box stores and not Mom and Pops.
The federal min wage might have remained flat but state ones definitely have not.
Capitalism is a For Profit organization. There's no such thing as 'too much is too much', only deluded devolution. Communism is the exact opposite, yet exactly the same result: If you can't maintain a sustainable middle; the ends collapse the means. A rather poor job of The Big Crunch.
I knew that was cap, they just don’t want to pay a livable wage.
Shop local when you can. Also shop at aldis if you can. They actually treat their employees decently and pay more than everybody else on their own accord
Damn right. I always use the attended checkout line, if any. A prime value in our wealthy country SHOULD be to guarantee ALL productive full-time workers the ability to afford a comfortable life. Without that, HOW can you 'pursue happiness' as guaranteed in the Constitution?
They're counting on other people no knowing the numbers...
If paying better wages would lead to the horror of raising prices what do they think that tariffs will do?
Sounds gay
you should maybe pay attention to how much poorer everyone is being made RIGHT NOW
Self-checkout is for sheep.
I refuse to use self check out!
And CEOs and Board members got richer!
The fundamental fallacy with minimum wage is the complete disregard of basic economics. 1 hour of labor will almost always equal the same amount of earned buying power. You can increase the $ all you want, actual buying power will just decrease accordingly. This is not a political statement.
"almost always" This is total BS.
Ok, I’ll amend: always. I left room for caveats like external (temporary) market conditions. Want a $50 min wage? How about $1,000? Your buying power will remain the same. I’m not saying lower income earners aren’t getting the raw deal in many ways. But raising minimum wage won’t fix it.
The fed wage has not increased yet inflation has. You fix that by income equality, not making people work 2 hours to buy a cheeseburger. CEO compensation has increased dramatically over the years, with a rise of 1,085% from 1978 to 2023, while typical worker pay grew only 24% during the same period.
You’re conflating an economic law with questionable business practices. They are unrelated. Only 13 states use the fed min wage. It’s largely ignored except by people trying to make political points. Min wage in my very red state is double the fed rate. Guess what? Buying power hasn’t changed.
It is not an economic law. It is questionable business practices. The raising of prices to cover a min wage increase is what is going on. The buying power does increase with a higher wage.
No, it doesn't. Buying power increases because of a higher *market* wage, not minimum wage. Meaning, if you provide labor that the market deems to be worth more, your buying power will increase. If you don't, buying power remains the same, no matter the "wage".
That is not true. The bottom line is what will come into play. That’s like some sheep look up shit.
Example: 45 min of labor flipping burgers at McDs = 1 Big Mac Meal. It doesn't matter what you're paid, the meal cost will just increase accordingly. But, if you're promoted to Asst Mgr, your buying power DOES increase, as your labor is "worth" more. It now takes 30 minutes to buy that same meal.
More likely the asst mgr now works 50hrs a week salary and makes less.
Another nasty side effect of raising min wage is wage compression. This disproportionately harms low income people by limiting upward mobility and reducing real buying power even when no longer at minimum wage.
There are already employers balking at raises because they 'already pay almost DOUBLE minimum wage'. Like it's possible to live on $14 an hour.
There’s no competition in retail it’s a cartel
The workers should be paid a living wage. You can’t just keep passing the increase to the people and expect it won’t effect your bottom line.
Corporations exist so that businessmen have an institutional mask to wear when they're fucking people over
I've been saying that for years! Give us a pay raise of $20 an hour and give real benefits.
And who got richer? Upper management and stockholders.
CEOs are scum. #FreeLuigiMangione
😧
Came in for a gallon of milk, now I’m scanning, coding, weighing, and bagging like a part-time employee. I wanted milk, not to clock in for the night shift. At this point, I’m waiting for management to hand me a name tag and ask when I can cover weekends.
The threat is always looming. And it’s also always bullshit. Giving workers a livable wage would NOT doom retailers. It would allow more people to buy their shit!!! People that don’t worry about eating tend to have more discretionary funds.
bsky.app/profile/arem...
They are withdrawing as much out of everyone's pockets before they crash the present economy and create a new slave system. Welcome to the hunger games.
Wow
I used to fix self checkouts in my previous job. From my experience, they often weren't deployed correctly. If used to handle small transactions, they're efficient and free up cashiers to handle customers with full baskets. But then they tried replacing full lanes, and it quickly fell apart.
CEOs should be thrown into the sun and their monthly salaries should be distributed to all employees.
Next thing is grocery & retail stores will add a 'select a tip' screen to the self check out line so you can tip them for allowing you to bag your own purchases.
Of course zero will never be an option.
Oddly enough the automated checkout goes on the blink at my grocery store. It takes 2 checkers away from their stations to straighten it out. Providing job security via auto checkout.
Thanks, Reaganomics!
When I have to use those, while the "cashier's" hover behind me. I turn and ask "where is the break room? Don't I deserve a break too?" It's not their fault. But I do hope they tell their managers.
As a result, those terminated government employees, if they decide to return, will probably ask for more money and refuse to return, without a wage increase. What a "hot mess."
Ohh, you poor, poor thing, thinking in such ''simple'' absolutes, seeinv the world in only black and white colors while refusing to see anything else not presented before your very nose by ''caring'' ideologists.
And dear leader’s tariffs along with ICE arrests just contributed to increased prices
Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc. have received huge tax breaks and money from the regime and in turn all of them back the 34-ct felon, rapist and pedophile. They are mean to the people who work for them and screw the working poor every chance they get.
That's how it worked. In a nutshell.
No, turns out, it's not even the top 10% (this is a Median of the Top 10%'s wealth). Or the top 1%. Or the top 0.1%. joshworth.com/jpw/i-made-a... Watch the video at the bottom. Even amongst billionaires, it's unequal. (This graph is missing 4% of the USA's total wealth).
Over a decade ago, the Province of Ontario Canada raised the minimum wage from $10/hr to $14/hr CAD. A 40% increase. What followed was NO mass layoffs. NO price increases. NO widespread bankruptcies.
There’s no such thing as automated check out. They transferred the work of checking out to the customer and then charged them more for the pleasure.
Welcome to Late-Stage #Capitalism. Don't look into it too much or you might start voting for @pslweb.bsky.social.
yup
Corporations and billionaires have become the problem alongside a corrupted and dysfunctional government.
MAGA!! Malicious Assholes Gaslighting America
#Facts here
Wages are not determined by some mythical minimum wage. Entry level wages have gone up.
I do not use auto checkout! I don’t care if to have to wait a long time in line.
Just walk out the door with a full cart and watch how fast someone comes to assist you. :-)
All humanity is a lie that started 6000 years ago If you do not understand what I just wrote, you need to investigate,and sift through the rhetoric of humanity that is designed to keep the truth from you.
In the past working at a department store was a good living. But today it’s about cost saving and the way you cut cost is with labor and limiting benefits. Therefore we need UNIONS to protect the workers.
I worked retail and worked as a cashier in a grocery store in my younger days.We would get reprimanded if you didn't smile or were anything but nice to customers.You don't get that now! You're lucky if you can coax a smile out of cashiers now. They want the money, but not do the work!!
Curious how they insisted that raising wages would force them to raise prices, but replacing almost all their checkout employees with self-checkout for customers didn't result in any of them lowering their prices one bit.
How much did they raise CEO Pay Packages & Stock Buy Backs and Top Brass Leaving Corporate Golden parachutes along with Their Bonuses did that affect the Costs being passed to Consumers
I refuse to use self checkouts. I left an entire cart of groceries because no one would check me out and they had a bunch of employees monitoring the self check out and not one of them would check me out. Fuck that shit. I do not work for you. If you want me to shop in your store. you will provide
There has always been at least one person on check out where I shop. I refuse to use self check out on principal. I wait to be checked out by an employee and have no problem with it.
A whole movement of this
Retail stocks have grossly underperformed the broader market—fully half the annualized gains over the last 10 years. Amazon is killing retail. Federal min wages should go up to keep with inflation, bc states that have bumped it up kept their strong economy, and because it’s the right thing to do.
So basically we line up to spend our money. I think of Home Depot. What a SHIT SHOW. No one there will help you. They basically run away if you look lost.
At a understaffed store with undertrained employees, the employees seemed to have a strategy: They would never admit they didn't know where a product was located. Instead, they'd send you to the far end of the store. By the time you went there and came back to ask again, they were gone.
it's almost like record profits are an immovable part of the equation... wish i could figure out why
bsky.app/profile/arem...
Most companies *are* legally obligated to act in shareholder interest. (See eBay v. Newmark) So if there isn't really a way to manage higher costs without passing it onto consumers the company/board of directors open themselves up to getting civil penalties.
Truth
Businesses are going to raise prices and try to cut costs where they can. Their motivation is to maximize both revenue and profit.
