Union grocery store workers making their voices heard at the Capitol, lobbying lawmakers to support a bill that would ban so-called "surveillance pricing" they say could put thousands of workers out of a job.
"These are folks with full time employment making family sustaining wages with full family health insurance and a secure retirement," Union leader Rena Wong said. "What happens to those jobs? What happens to these people? What happens to those communities when that income is no longer coming in?"
DFL Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy says it's about a fundamental sense of fairness.
"If my neighbor and I go to the same store on the same day and stand in the same aisle, the bananas should cost the same," Murphy adds.
Minnesota business groups have expressed concerns about the two surveillance pricing-related bills at the capitol. But, Murphy says the name 'surveillance pricing' itself is all you need to know.
"The idea that we are being watched, that algorithms and AI are tools big corporations and big tech have access to and we don't, that our names and even our faces are popping up on lists and screens that we're not aware of," Murphy explained.
The U.S. Congress also is considering multiple bills to ban or limit the practice.
