“Many of you might wonder, ‘Why is there a prosecutors’ group working on a bill around workplace staffing? We’re here because, as law enforcement officials, we understand that preventing crime is more valuable than prosecuting crime.”
-Cristine Soto DeBerry
Executive Director of Prosecutors Alliance Action
For more than a year, California businesses’ concerns about retail theft have taken top billing in the Capitol, spurring more than a dozen new laws. But the grocery and drug store workers who deal with thefts and other crimes every day have their own ideas about how to address those threats.
Some of those ideas make up a controversial bill that would limit self-checkout lanes, the latest measure pitting new technology against workers to stir up controversy in the California Capitol.
The legislation, SB1446, would require stores to have each worker manage no more than two self-checkout kiosks at once and be relieved of other responsibilities. Businesses must also issue a notice of new technologies that could impact workers at least 60 days before implementation under the bill.
Its author, state Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, D-Los Angeles, said the bill is meant to address the collision of three issues: retail theft, automation and labor concerns. But the businesses and groups most vocal about combating retail theft oppose the measure.
“We want to make sure we have enough workers at these self-checkout kiosks so that they are safe, and consumers are safe and have the support they need,” Smallwood-Cuevas said.
Smallwood-Cuevas claims that 16 times more retail theft happens at self-checkouts than manned registers, which she believes can be tamped down by having more workers nearby, watching the kiosks.