The End of Self-Checkout
By 
There were so many arguments around here a few years ago around self-checkout, in which consumers do free work for stores by checking themselves out and thus allowing employers to throw people out of work. Lots of LGM commenters loved this idea–they don’t care about the working class and besides WHAT ABOUT PRODUCTIVE JOBS INSTEAD OF THESE SOULLESS JOBS they ask. Plus there were all those commenters who loved to talk about how wonderful it is to not interact with humans, a feeling that contributes demonstrably to the rise of fascism. All of this on top of the point that most people are not trained to work a checkout counter and so it doesn’t work.
Well, color me pleased that this is all going away and for an obvious reason--if a store is going to require me to check myself out, why wouldn’t I steal stuff to compensate myself for my labor? Moreover, the lack of employees is causing problems so Long Beach is getting rid of them by ordinance.
In a move that could reshape grocery shopping in Southern California, the city recently approved a new ordinance nicknamed “Safe Stores Are Staffed Stores.” This imposes stricter rules on self-checkout kiosks at grocery and drug stores.
The ordinance, passed by the City Council on August 12, includes a 30-day grace period for stores to comply.
The new rules state that every self-checkout section must be supervised with a 3:1 staffing ratio. And these lanes will now be limited to transactions of 15 items or fewer. As well as prohibiting certain locked items from being rung up through the self-checkout kiosk.
Already, some major grocery stores are compiling. Vons has closed all of its self-checkout stations in Long Beach due to this new city ordinance. Albertsons also disabled their self–checkout lanes in Wrigley.
Retailers who fail to comply with these rules may face fines or lawsuits.
Supporters of this ordinance are arguing that this will help curb retail theft and protect their workers. However, critics warn of escalating costs, disruptions to store operations, and limited flexibility.
Oh no, not limited flexibility? What will CVS do?
More on people stealing from self-checkout here.