this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2026
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
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- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
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Won’t this just encourage people to use self-checkout as it will make using an employed checkout lane more expensive?
I don’t think many people know how harmful self-checkout is to their neighbors employed the store. I made a comment to a Costco employee about how I was glad they added the hand scanners to self-checkout, and their response was to educate me that self-checkout isn’t good for the employees because it means fewer jobs. I’m was so self-absorbed in my own day-to-day life that I did not even think about the impact it had on Costco employees. I didn’t even think about the fact that here I am talking about this pain point of self-checkout (having to use the stationary scanner) and relief about having a better option (the hand scanner) when the best option is already there (employees handling the checkout). The real solution is to just open up more jobs, hire more employees to do the scanning and bagging. I stopped using self-checkout after that.
I went to Aldi recently. You have to put a quarter in to get a shopping cart (I haven’t carried around quarters in ages). The shelves often get into a state of disarray. The line for the 1 employee doing checkout is massive, but self-checkout is also a huge pain in the ass. Continuously cutting jobs to increase profits is a race to the bottom, and yet people who can barely afford groceries think they couldn’t live without a discount chain like Aldi. We are saving pennies by giving up our time doing our own checkout, when we could be getting paid to check people out, providing them some convenience and doing so with greater efficiency instead. I’ll add that many items at Aldi’s are actually more expensive than at other grocery stores, if you’re not paying attention you could end up paying more than a place with more employed checkout lanes.
I'm sorry, but you must be a new Aldi shopper. The quarter thing has been their model for ages. Often, you or someone else will just leave a quarter in their cart when they put it back.
The self-checkout is new, but Aldi is one of those stores that actually does pass the savings on to its customers. It's always 20–30% cheaper at Aldi than other stores in my area. The exception is big-name brand stuff, but the store brand is definitely cheaper. $4 for a 12-pack of knockoff Coke vs. $13 for the name brand at the other stores? It's a no-brainer.
Edit: I'm not super current on it, but as I recall, Aldi does actually pay its workers well. It's one of the places that has a reputation as "the good one." I'm sure it's not perfect, since it still operates in the U.S. economy, but Aldi has been up there with Costco for its business practices.
It was the first time I had shopped at an Aldi in like a decade. A friend buys my kid these snacks she loves, that are only at Aldi, so I went to check it out. The quarter thing was one of several PITAs I experienced.
That wasn’t my experience. There’s a Smart & Final nearby that has most of the basics at similar or lower cost, especially if you go with store brand. While I was at Aldi I was doing price comparisons against the other stores I go to (using their apps, knowing the price in app is usually higher) and found many items were more expensive at Aldi. Frozen fish was one thing I remember being higher at Aldi. It seems like they drop prices on some items but get you on other items, which is what a lot of grocery stores do.
I’d believe that but that’s because there are maybe 3 employees in the entire store. One at checkout, and two running around handling everything else. I figured that’s why the shelves were not arranged well, there’s no one with the time to clean things up after shoppers make a mess. This was a fairly large Aldi too, almost as big as the S&F in my neighborhood. The difference is at the S&F they open up more checkouts when things get busy.
cool to know! I think Smart and Final might be a regional thing because I've never heard of it. but yeah, one of the draw backs of Aldi is that when they get busy things get messy. In general, I love Aldi. It has it's issues but overall the shittiness seems muted compared to the other big chain stores. I can at least afford the essentials from there and then, when I get special stuff, buy bulk.
I wish they carried butter beans though.
An employee check out lane is not always the best option. I like self check out lanes because it is more efficient for me and the lines will move faster because there can be more machines open.
An employee lane is great when you need assistance, like for elderly or less technically adept people and they should maintain a balance of both. Also agree that they should not charge 10% more to people who use this lane.
A blanket 10% discount should apply to everyone in a store that has self checkout lanes.
As to employees losing jobs because of self checkout, cashier is not a super fulfilling job that needs to exist in abundance. Preferably new jobs open up that offer better opportunities to people than just scanning and bagging things and collecting cash.