Hate of self -check? California legislators can set new rules

From Maya K. MillerCalmness

This story was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

It was a long day to work and you still have to stop at the store on your way home.

To spare more social interaction, you make a line for the self -government station, praying for a quick and painless transaction.

“Please wait, the help is on the road,” the feminine voice chef of the machine, ridicule you as you try to desperate to mark a clerk.

After a Failed, Union -backed effort last year To strictly regulate self -check machines, the California Democrats are again trying to set directions that they say will improve the efficiency of self -service stations in grocery stores, drugs and large boxes.

Senate Bill 442Los Angeles Senator Lola Little Tree-SuevasWho chairs the Senate Labor and Public Employment Committee will require the stores to have at least one specialized worker there to help customers self -service. Stores will also be obliged to work at least one traditional box office at any time and to limit the type and number of items that the customer can bring through self-check.

“This is about supporting our workforce to make sure they are safe, but most of all, to make sure they provide the level of service that customers expect and deserve,” says a small tree-Cuevas on the Senate floor before this summer to accept this chamber 26-10.

But the state business community, especially its groceries, is still opposed to efforts. Instead, without indicate specific studies or evidence, they say that more regulations will increase prices due to the additional labor costs that companies will pass on to consumers.

“This seems to be a clear example why Californians pay the highest grocery prices, no matter what payment line they go through,” says Daniel Conway, a lobbyist at the California Bakali Association, from Hearing the Labor and Employment Committee of Assembly In June.

Not surprisingly, Smallwood-Cuevas, a former organizer of labor, bears such a bill, aligning the two Union weights that cling to the legislation: the California Labor and United Foods and Trade workers. It votes on their way more than 95% of the time, According to the digital democracy databaseand has received nearly $ 30,000 total campaign contributions from 2021 groups.

According to the measure, stores will have to display signs that limit customers to 15 items or less in the self-government strips and also designate an employee whose only duties are to monitor the stands. In particular, the bill explicitly states that the stores will not be punished for failing to impose a limit on the items, a condition for which business groups say it is pointless. Proponents of the provision claim that the signs will increase the pressure of peers and self -policy without strict application.

More items prohibited from self -check

And by upgrading a 2011 law that prohibits the sale of alcohol in self-confidence stations, another Union-backed effort, the new Smallwood-Cuevas bill will extend the ban on all items that require the purchase, such as tobacco products, and everything with the security of the thefts, which should be done.

Stores that want to add new self -service stations should notify the employees and their trade unions in writing at least 60 days in advance or to face $ 1,000 for a day’s violation.

Democrats largely expressed support for the Smallwood-Cuevas bill, calling it a very necessary medicine for the headache, which is self-government.

Assembly Ash CalraDemocrat from San Jose laughed at Konway’s claim that self -inspection was an effective and preferred choice for customers and said customers were often forced to use them because the stores had reduced the number of cashiers.

“I don’t know if I can’t disagree with more points that were just made by our grocery friends,” Cala told Conway During the hearing at the end of JuneS “You should not go to stores if you think there is an improved shopping experience from these self -inspections.”

Opponents have expressed concern that the newly added provision in the bill will invite local municipalities to pass stricter standards, as recently Long Beach, requiring stores to assign at least one clerk for every three self-check machines.

Companies warn that such a patchwork of laws would make it difficult for the management of stores with multiple places, creating a burden for both owners and customers.

“Only the only, state approach can provide a sequence that both employers and employees must thrive,” writes Ryan Alene, a lobbyist of the California Association of Retailers, who is currently opposing the bill.

Although Republicans acknowledged that they also despise the self -checking process, the legislators killed a bill to excess business authority to regulate and increase the operational costs that would eventually be handed over to the consumer.

Senator Shannon GroveBakersfield’s Republican called it “completely unacceptable” to the legislature to prevent business from introducing automation that can reduce costs after engaging an accessibility programS

“It’s something with labor, I understand,” said Senator Kelly SyrtoRepublican from Muruta, on the Senate floor in June. “I would like as many people as possible to work, but I would also like to afford food.”

Senator Ben Allen Ben AllenDemocrat from El Segundo was among several Democrats who expressed mild fluctuations in the state -owned enterprise of local rules, but voted for the bill anyway.

“I understand that you will work with the groceries on this challenge,” he said in June.

The bill must clear the Budget Loan Committee for the Assembly after MPs returned from their summer on August 18 before going to the vote floor.

Tara Galegos, spokesman for governor Gavin Newo, will not indicate the SB 442 position, saying that the governor’s office “usually does not comment on the hanging legislation”.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.