[Marxism] Self-service at CVS
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == The CVS across the street has installed self-service check-out machines. This is apparently the latest trend in the retail industry to cut costs and boost profits. Of course, when they can clerks, that's a loss of buying power. It is especially galling to have to basically do work for free when I check myself out at CVS. Here's a blog article from Solidarity on this: http://www.solidarity-us.org/current/node/2350 Self-checkouts and other capitalist inconveniences Submitted by Nick on August 20, 2009 - 12:52pm Anyone who’s been to a supermarket within the past couple of years is undoubtedly familiar with the horrible phenomenon of “self-checkout” machines. It seems grocery stores have given up all pretense of caring about their customers; they’ve fired the cashiers and baggers and are forcing you to scan and bag the groceries yourself as a computerized voice commands you every step of the way. If you’ve used one, you know how extremely inconvenient this is. Because it’s a robot and not a person, you have to go through an extremely specific routine: scan item, place in bag, repeat. Any deviation from this, such as taking a purchase back out of the bag or shifting the items around so the milk doesn’t crush the tortilla chips, will cause the self-checkout station to say perplexing commands at you and possibly force the harried attendant, who has to watch over eight or ten of these things, to come over – after they’re done helping the three other people with the same problem – and make sure you aren’t trying to steal anything before you can scan your next item. I like to bring my own cloth shopping bags, but the self-checkout machines make this very difficult. And then there’s the matter of payment. A worker can sort bills and coins into a cash register much faster than a customer can insert them, one by one, into a little slot that sometimes rejects them for unknowable reasons. Last time I went to the store it took me about five minutes to buy four items. It’s striking how fast they’ve been able to essentially eliminate cashiers. The store I go to has been keeping only one or two normal checkout lanes open, even during peak grocery-shopping times, forcing almost everyone to use the self-checkout. It’s not much better with the regular checkout anyway, since they’ve already eliminated baggers. This is a pretty common phenomenon these days. At a lot of stores, staff have been cut to the point that it’s nearly impossible to ask someone where to find something – instead you’re supposed to use little computers with search functions. Of course, if you enter the wrong name for a product, it won’t be able to tell you where it is. The telephone voice-recognition systems that everyone hates are another example of this trend. This kind of “labor-saving technology” eliminates jobs, but it doesn’t actually save any labor – it makes things more difficult, not less. The difference is that the labor is no longer done by workers, but is foisted onto customers, thus expanding the company’s profit margin while producing inconvenience for everybody else. In a socialist society, we would presumably put such technology to its proper use – that of making life easier for workers and customers. Meanwhile, the UFCW would make a lot of friends if it mounted a campaign against those awful self-checkouts. * Nick's blog Self-check outs Submitted by Mary Struggler (not verified) on August 22, 2009 - 5:30pm. I hate the self check outs and never use them. I don't care how long the line is at the one open cashier. I'd rather wait in line for a wage earning employee than a darn robot that can't buy a car. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Self-service at CVS
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Most supermarkets have not totally eliminated check-out clerks, but have instituted a hybrid system as a transitional phase. Whenever I shop at one of these places, I boycott the self-check out and even urge others to do the same without making too much of a commotion. I think a boycott of self-checkout stations would be a great idea as a union organizing tactic, and would have strong support from the public. Greg Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Self-service at CVS
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == French supermarkets-- Champion, etc. introduced them awhile ago-- not too popular from what I observed in Paris, but then everything in Paris, including waiting in line, is viewed as an opportunity to engage in conversation and discussion K-Mart on Astor Place in Manhattan installed them about 5 years ago-- but had to have clerks available as so many customers were confused by the process-- and I think it presents a greater opportunity for pilferage-- scan the low priced article, but bag the high priced article. - Original Message - From: "Louis Proyect" Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2010 8:26 AM Subject: [Marxism] Self-service at CVS == Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Self-service at CVS
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On Jan 31, 2010, at 9:41 AM, S. Artesian wrote: > > French supermarkets-- Champion, etc. introduced them awhile ago-- > not too popular from what I observed in Paris, but then everything > in Paris, including waiting in line, is viewed as an opportunity to > engage in conversation and discussion > > K-Mart on Astor Place in Manhattan installed them about 5 years > ago-- but had to have clerks available as so many customers were > confused by the process-- and I think it presents a greater > opportunity for pilferage-- scan the low priced article, but bag the > high priced article. I can't imagine Whole Foods, anti-union or not, doing such a thing. Shane Mage shm...@pipeline.com "L'après-vie, c'est une auberge espagnole. L'on n'y trouve que ce qu'on y a apporté." Bardo Thodol Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Self-service at CVS
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On Sun, 31 Jan 2010 09:41:02 -0500 "S. Artesian" writes: > > French supermarkets-- Champion, etc. introduced them awhile ago-- > not too > popular from what I observed in Paris, but then everything in Paris, > > including waiting in line, is viewed as an opportunity to engage in > > conversation and discussion > > K-Mart on Astor Place in Manhattan installed them about 5 years > ago-- but > had to have clerks available as so many customers were confused by > the > process-- and I think it presents a greater opportunity for > pilferage-- scan > the low priced article, but bag the high priced article. That maybe their Achilles heel. What the stores might save in reduced labor costs may be lost through increasing pilferage. Then they either will have to hire extra clerks to guard against theft or they will have to increase the sophistication of the technology, which of course will make it more expensive. Might be cheaper then just to hire cashiers. Jim F. http://independent.academia.edu/JimFarmelant > > Senior Assisted Living Put your loved ones in good hands with quality senior assisted living. Click now! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/c?cp=fMi3JRdOaaGP8qQzYognMAAAJ1BRugI4sJACAWmXIev8NAFPAAYAAADNAAASUQA= Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
