UFCW Testifies at Senate Hearing on the Cost of Surveillance Pricing to Consumers and Workers

UFCW serves as a witness for Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism

After New Jersey passes first ban on electronic shelf labels and surveillance pricing, federal lawmakers recognize the danger of these technologies

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union, which represents 1.2 million essential workers across the United States and Canada, testified at the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism's hearing: "Your Data, Their Profit: The Consumer Cost of AI Surveillance Pricing." UFCW Policy Counsel Hillary Caron served as a witness for the subcommittee, led by Senators Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and exposed the damaging effects of surveillance pricing and electronic shelf labels on consumers and workers in grocery stores.

In her opening statement, Hillary Caron, policy counsel at the UFCW International Union, testified:

Email [email protected] to speak with a spokesperson about the threat that ESLs and surveillance pricing pose to fair grocery prices and good, union jobs.

BACKGROUND

• Last month, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill signed the Fair Price Protection Act, the nation's first moratorium on ESLs and ban on surveillance pricing in grocery stores, into law. New Jersey is among 12 states that have joined the UFCW's "Affordable Groceries and Good Jobs Campaign" to ban the predatory practice of surveillance pricing, target the encroachment of AI-driven technology in grocery stores, and deliver fair prices for families while preserving good, union grocery jobs.

• In the U.S. Senate, the Stop Price Gouging in Grocery Stores Act, led by Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) was introduced in February, alongside a House companion bill, led by Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.-12) and Representative Val Hoyle (D-Ore.-4).

• Polling found that 65 percent of American voters think ESLs and 68 percent think surveillance pricing will cause grocery prices to increase. Sixty-seven percent of voters are in favor of banning this technology and practices in grocery stores, with support cutting across party lines. Seventy-two percent of respondents said they do not have faith in grocery stores to use this technology responsibly.

• ESLs enable retailers to change prices instantaneously, and corporations are racing to deploy them. Walmart, for example, plans to replace traditional paper price tags with digital ones across all of its stores by the end of 2026. The corporation also recently secured patents to use shoppers' personal data to update prices at scale.

• ESLs also threaten the livelihoods of grocery workers. These systems could replace the skilled work of grocery clerks or, at the very least, leave them to explain a company's actions to rightfully angry shoppers. The UFCW represents more than 800,000 grocery workers across North America. UFCW members are essential to keeping our communities fed, and they know how disruptive ESLs could be for workers and shoppers alike.

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The UFCW International is the largest private sector union in the United States, representing 1.2 million workers and their families in grocery, meatpacking, food processing, healthcare, cannabis, retail, and other essential industries. UFCW members serve our communities in all 50 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at ufcw.org