Anaheim officials are hesitating on joining a growing list of Southern California cities \u2013 primarily in OC \u2013 starting to require local supermarkets and retail drug stores to staff their self-checkout aisle and implement item limits.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a move that is being backed by local grocery union leaders who say regulations will help curb retail theft and keep cashiers and customers safe as well as offer needed support for employees as they say companies are relying more on self-checkout and less on workers.<\/p>\n
Grocers argue the regulations don\u2019t impact retail theft and will only result in customers with a more expensive receipt no matter which cashier stand they use, adding self-checkout stands is a convenience many of their patrons expect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Anaheim officials announced at their city council meeting they would be removing the ordinance from their agenda after directing staff about three months to bring back a self-checkout ordinance based on one adopted in Costa Mesa.<\/p>\n
[Read: Anaheim to Consider Mandating Staffing at Self-Checkout Stands<\/a>]<\/p>\n Councilwoman Norma Campos Kurtz, who initially requested the ordinance with Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, said at the beginning of the council\u2019s regular meeting more work needed to be done on the ordinance and elected officials will consider it at a later date.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have talked to both sides, grocers and workers, and it\u2019s obvious to us that at this point in time there still needs to be work done on the language of the ordinance,\u201d Kurtz said.<\/p>\n The delay comes after Kurtz and Aitken met with representatives from the Grocers Association about self-checkout regulations in March and again in April. Kurtz also met with grocery union leaders about the regulations in March, according to Kurtz\u2019s public calendar<\/a>.<\/p>\n Aitken did not list the meetings on her public calendar<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Long Beach, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana officials have all approved similar rules and mandates on local grocery stores and retail pharmacies.\u00a0<\/p>\n The proposed ordinance in Anaheim would have set a ratio of one employee for every four self-checkout kiosks, limit shoppers to 15 items at the self-service stands and bans them from buying cigarettes and alcohol \u2013 something already barred by state law.<\/p>\n It would also have required there be at least one cashier working a register between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.<\/p>\n Officials in other cities approved a ratio of one employee for every three self-checkout kiosks.<\/p>\n A host of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324<\/a> members said regulations on self-checkout stands will relieve overtasked employees, keep customers from getting frustrated and prevent retail theft.<\/p>\n Jose Perez, president of the union, said workers are currently monitoring up to a dozen machines on their own while juggling other responsibilities and pushed for a one employee for every three self-checkout kiosks ratio.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are seeing a troubling trend where corporations are replacing workers with self-checkout machines to cut costs,\u201d he said at Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cWorkers are stretched too thin, stores become easier targets for theft, and customers receive less help and slower service. This ordinance is not about being against technology, it\u2019s about setting responsible standards,\u201d Perez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wayne Denningham, executive vice president and President of the Southern California Division for Vons, Albertsons and Pavilions<\/a>, asked council members in a Tuesday email<\/a> to not overregulate stores, adding that shoppers expect self-checkout stands.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s customers value convenience, flexibility and choice in how they shop,\u201d Denningham wrote to council members.<\/p>\n \u201cOverregulation in this area could unintentionally limit our ability to offer self-checkout, removing a preferred shopping option and potentially driving customers to seek alternative ways to purchase groceries elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anaheim officials are hesitating on joining a growing list of Southern California cities \u2013 primarily in OC \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,19740,93861,40334,93862,80454,2267],"class_list":["post-357384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-ashleigh-aitken","tag-california-grocers-association","tag-norma-campos-kurtz","tag-self-check-out-regulations","tag-united-food-and-commercial-workers","tag-voice-of-oc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}