Santa Ana votes to restrict fully automated self-checkouts: What to know

SANTA ANA, Calif. - The Santa Ana City Council has officially approved the "Safe Stores are Staffed Stores" ordinance to strictly regulate self-checkout operations in local supermarkets and pharmacies. 

Aimed at curbing retail theft and protecting local jobs, the policy mandates that retail establishments maintain clear human staffing levels alongside automated kiosks.

What we know:

Passed by a unanimous vote on Tuesday, the ordinance establishes mandatory staffing guidelines for all drug retail establishments using self-checkout kiosks and all grocery stores larger than 15,000 square feet. 

Covered businesses must now supply a minimum of one dedicated employee to monitor every three active self-checkout machines. 

Additionally, stores are required to have at least one traditional, human-staffed checkout lane open at all times when self-checkout kiosks are operating. 

Labor organizations like the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 324 heavily backed the measure, pointing out that an over-reliance on self-checkout isolates vulnerable customer bases—including senior citizens and shoppers with disabilities—and leaves them facing long delays without assistance.

What we don't know:

It's unknown how strictly major corporate chains will implement these ratios or whether compliance will trigger changes in local grocery prices. It is also unknown how heavily local code enforcement will monitor regional retail spaces once the regulations take hold.

What they're saying:

Labor leaders praised the council's decisive action, viewing the ordinance as a necessary protection against unchecked corporate automation. Jose Perez, president of UFCW Local 324, noted, "The ‘Safe Stores are Staffed Stores’ ordinance establishes reasonable guardrails while protecting the use of technology and innovation in our stores. We’re proud that more cities are recognizing that fully replacing workers with self-checkout creates unintended consequences for communities. The Santa Ana City Council’s leadership on this issue sends a message that technology should support workers, not replace them entirely."

Victor Romero, a meat cutter at a local Stater Bros. grocery store, mirrored this sentiment regarding daily store safety.

"Union brothers and sisters and I are fighting to ensure our customers have a good shopping experience and that workers have safe working conditions. The way to do that is via more staffing, not technology that is designed to replace us. Regulating self-checkout does not stop companies from utilizing the technology, and I’m glad the Santa Ana City Council stood with working people today."

Rachel Michelin, President of the California Retailers Association, issued the following statement following the Santa Ana City Council’s vote to ban self-checkout: "Today, the Santa Ana City Council made the cost of living crisis worse. California families are already struggling with some of the highest costs in the nation for groceries, gas, housing, and everyday essentials. Banning self-checkout drives up retailers' operating costs, which are passed directly to consumers as higher prices on the goods they buy every day. The last thing consumers need is another government mandate that makes everyday goods more expensive and less convenient. Instead of standing up for hardworking residents, the Santa Ana City Council chose to side with UFCW – a special interest group that prioritizes its own agenda over the needs of everyone else. This decision doesn't just make groceries more expensive; it also strips away convenience from workers who are already stretched thin. Parents juggling jobs and family obligations, employees working long shifts, and anyone who relies on the flexibility of modern retail to fit shopping into a hectic schedule will now bear the cost of a policy designed to serve union interests, not the public interest."

What's next:

The ordinance is scheduled to officially go into effect in 30 days. 

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