AFL-CIO Think Tank Seeks Ban on Electronic Shelf Labels

The organization made this call in a policy brief in which it said widespread adoption of ESLs could lead to lost wages for workers and higher prices for consumers.

PYMNTS reported in July 2025 that electronic shelf labels, which enable grocery stores to change prices in a matter of seconds, were being adopted by larger American retailers.

In October 2025, it was reported that some lawmakers were concerned that electronic shelf labels could make it easier for retailers to raise prices during times of high demand.

Widespread adoption of ESLs in grocery stores could cost workers between $1.6 billion and $6.9 billion a year in lost wages and lead to the elimination of between 44,223 and 191,633 jobs, according to the AFL-CIO Tech Institute’s policy brief, “Priced Out, Pushed Out: Electronic Shelf Labels Raise Prices and Shrink Paychecks.”

While ESL manufacturers often say that their products will free up workers to spend more time helping customers, the AFL-CIO Tech Institute’s analysis of the companies’ marketing materials found that they sell ESLs to retailers as a way to cut costs, per the brief.

The AFL-CIO Tech Institute compared the adoption of ESLs to that of self-checkout kiosks and said many retailers chose to cut staff after introducing that technology.

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“Based on past actions, one could expect similar staff reduction actions after the mass implementation of ESLs,” the organization said in the policy brief.

ESLs could also impact consumers by facilitating higher grocery prices, because this technology links the digital price tags on store shelves to pricing systems that can be used for dynamic pricing and surveillance pricing, according to the policy brief.

The technology also makes it easier for retailers to quickly change prices in stores, per the brief.

“Widespread adoption of this technology can open the door to similarly volatile pricing in brick-and-mortar grocery stores,” the AFL-CIO Tech Institute said in the policy brief.

New Jersey has imposed a one-year moratorium on retail food stores’ use of ESL while legislators study the technology, according to the report.

While the state’s move represents a step toward protecting consumers and workers, it falls short of a complete ban, per the report.

“The only way to truly protect consumers and workers is to completely ban the tool being used to harm them,” the AFL-CIO Tech Institute said in the policy brief.

In a press release highlighting findings from the policy brief, Lauren McFerran, executive director of the AFL-CIO Tech Institute, said: “Grocery workers are the backbone of our communities, yet the rapid, unchecked deployment of ESLs threatens to eliminate jobs and billions in wages, while potentially driving up families’ grocery bills. Policymakers face a narrowing window to stop retailers from implementing this technology to harm both workers and shoppers.”