A lot of Canadian shoppers are on an uprising against the use of self-checkout machines in stores and malls, and their cause is justified. An interview done by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) recently shows that there a lot of people who are strongly against the deployment of these machines, because they’ll increase unemployment in the country and kill existing jobs.

Speaking up for the retail store cashiers

Dan Morris, a Canadian shopper, gave his take on the matter to CBC’s interviewing reporter. “They’re trying to herd everyone in, get everyone used to the self-checkouts to cut down on staff. Machines don’t pay taxes. They don’t pay into the pension plan.�

A lot of interviewed persons were speaking along the same lines as Morris. They all emphasized the fact that self-checkout was going to plunge a lot of families and the country at large into financial crisis and distress because thousands of people would lose their jobs over the automation. The economy would also begin to take a downward plunge on account of this change.

Resilient technology, resilient people

It’s not just retail stores that have opted for self-checkout and automated services. Several e-commerce giants are slowly spreading out the technology in their customer relations ideas.

Amazon and Walmart for instance, two global online marketing companies, are using robotic technology to dish out ideas and put up store chains that have no human services at all.

A survey conducted by CBC on 1,053 retail shoppers in Canada shows that only 11% of the lot regularly used self-checkout. They stated that it was much more convenient for them and a lot faster.

Self-checkout has been around for nearly three decades now, and the technology has been undergoing upgrades and improvement, but a lot of people still refuse to touch them. “It can be classified as a crime against humanity to use one of those machines,� said Sandra Wilkins, a working mom of two.

Conflicting emotions

Following the protest of self-checkout abstainers on social media, a lot of people rebuked the cause for several reasons. Some people argued that humans will always have different choices, and some people like the advancements being made in technology, up to the point where one doesn’t have to ‘endure’ the attitudes of cashiers anymore. Others insist the technology will make it easier for retail store owners to manage their businesses will fewer labor costs.

It started to seem at some point, that many people abstaining from using self-checkout for even the smallest and fewest of items are on the wrong side of the digital divide. This was confirmed not to be true because a lot of people in the rebellion have absolutely no problems navigating the machines.

CBC’s reporter interviewed an elderly lady named Peggy Eburne, who has never used self-checkout in her life. She insisted it was wrong to try to automate every job done by humans with machines.

Technology has to have a limit at some point. Many people would go hungry and lose their homes and their lives if the use of these machines is encouraged.

She assured everyone who cared to listen that the fight against this automation isn’t backing down any time soon. She said, “Maybe the little we do makes no difference at all, but we like to stand by what we believe in.�

Check out the full report in this video

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