UK News: Shocking evidence has come to light that shows unemployed people of all ages are being used to run self-service checkouts in supermarkets across the U.K.
It is thought that supermarkets have been using those receiving Jobseeker’s allowance as an unpaid energy source to run the checkouts, scan items and make the ‘blip’ sound.
“The Jobcentre Plus people said I’d lose my benefits if I didn’t get into the metal box and start turning a small hand crank,” said one man, who wished to remain anonymous. “They also promised me a slighty out-of-date sandwich if I stayed inside the checkout and powered it for a month.”
“It explains why self-service checkouts go wrong so much,” said jobs campaigner Fiona Truck. “The poor person inside it is probably very tired and hasn’t had anything to eat or drink for weeks.”
Employment Minister Chris Grayling has defended the practice, saying that it gives the unemployed ‘excellent experience of turning a crank inside a suffocating, pitch-black metal box’.
Story+Image: Simon Swatman