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May 18, 2026 TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA CITY COUNCIL Dear Members of the Council: RE: City of Santa Ana Ordinance Establishing Staffing and Operational Standards for Self-Service Checkout Stations in Drug and Food Retail Establishments I am writing in support of the Ordinance Establishing Staffing and Operational Standards for Self- Service Checkout Stations at Drug and Food Retail Establishments in the City of Santa Ana. This ordinance is a common-sense solution to the problems of public safety and retail theft in the city. For too long, the grocery and drug store industry has led a sustained effort to reduce labor cost with the implementation of self-checkout kiosks. This has created a domino effect that has led to systemic understaffing at the expense of workers and the public. Customers, especially seniors or people with disabilities are left to fend for themselves with technology that is not designed to accommodate their needs. Workers are left managing the entire self-checkout area by themselves while dealing with customer grievance or errors, answering phones, or unlocking items behind theft deterrent glass. Creating an unsafe environment for customers and workers. Workers are often exposed to unsafe high conflict interactions with customers. This leads to high volumes of retail theft and a loss of tax revenue for both state and local government. The 3:1 kiosk-to-worker ratio will ensure stores are adequately staffed and therefore safe for the public. Identical measures have been enacted in the cities of Long Beach and Costa Mesa, California. Similar measures were considered this year in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York City, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Tennessee. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union(UFCW)is America's largest food worker union that represents 1.2 million workers across the entire country that work in the grocery, retail, and meatpacking sector. Our members put food on the table for communities here in Santa Ana as well as the rest of America. Thank you for the opportunity to comment. Sincerely, t�deruoQa 6v*do International Vice President Director, Legislative& Political Action Department Milton L.Jones,International President United Food&Commercial Workers International Union,AFL-CIO, CLC Michael S.Haggerty,International Secretary-Treasurer 1775 K Street, NW'Washington DC 20006-1598 Office(202)223-3111 ' Fax(202)466-1562'www.ufcw.org