Self-Checkout Is Under Fire Across the Country. Is Theft Really the Reason?

The article frames self-checkout restrictions as ostensibly crime-prevention measures while insinuating the 'real' motivation—union job creation—is being obscured. This framing centers skepticism of stated public rationales and implies labor advocacy operates through misdirection. Reason's libertarian editorial stance is evident in the suggestion that anti-self-checkout measures serve private union interests rather than legitimate retail security concerns, positioning labor advocacy as a hidden agenda rather than openly defending worker interests.

Primary voices: media outlet, elected official, corporate or institutional spokesperson, NGO or civil society

• This article does not address labor's stated rationale for opposing self-checkout expansion beyond the implicit framing as job protection
• This article does not provide data on actual theft rates or costs attributed to self-checkout systems versus traditional checkout