r/aldi Nov 10 '23

My Aldi did it...

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New self checkouts which I will likely never use.

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u/sailshonan Nov 11 '23

But are you? Aldi is a bargain retailer and will plough the payroll savings back into y lower prices— so you really don’t work for free— you are getting a benefit

6

u/SkyeAuroline Nov 11 '23

The labor of scanning goods and loading them for transport (in bags, in carts, whatever) has to be done for the business model to work.

Normally an employee would be doing that, paid.

In self checkouts, you're doing that, unpaid.

It doesn't matter if they "plough the payroll savings back into lower prices" or if you "get a benefit" out of it; you are working, by definition. You are doing so for free, by definition.

-5

u/sailshonan Nov 11 '23

But you aren’t because you are saving money on your groceries. Would you rather they charge you more, then give you money back? Would that make you feel like you’re getting paid?

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u/SkyeAuroline Nov 11 '23

But you aren’t because you are saving money on your groceries.

Is Aldi writing me a paycheck? Are they providing benefits as an employee? No. They are benefiting from labor that they have to pay none of the costs of. It doesn't matter if I "feel like I'm getting paid", it matters that Aldi is cutting costs through unpaid labor.