ML-Implode News - Amazon-Whole Foods Deal Is Bad News For Store Cashiers And The Fight For $15 Minimum Wage

Among the losers will be traditional neighborhood stores, which won't be able to compete with Amazon's razor thin operating margins -- and minimum wage employees like cashiers, as Amazon's technology will make them dispensable and speed Â up a trend already underway in traditional retail chains...and in the process, make the $15 minimum wage irrelevant....
... other store chains will also have to do away with cashiers to keep up with Amazon, accelerating and broadening a trend already underway in the retail industry. Wal-Mart and Target have been using technology to replace labor that is usually paid the minimum wage.

Amazon's move comes as a franchise chain like Amazon -- McDonald's -- announced that it would be replacing cashiers with ordering kiosks. McDonald's is another company that operates at low margins; at least its franchises do, as the fast food market is highly competitive.
That's certainly bad news for the fight for $15 minimum wage movement. In fact, the movement may have helped Walmart, Target, Amazon, McDonald's and the like to step up the trend to replace workers, who are now more expensive than technology, which usually becomes more efficient and less costly over time.

Relevant:

Amazon-Whole Foods Deal Is Bad News For Store Cashiers And The Fight For $15 Minimum Wage