Day After Employees Vote To Unionize, Target Announces Fleet Of Robot Workers [1]

Just a day after pharmacy workers from a Brooklyn Target store formed a union [2], the company announced plans to replace employees with robot workers in the near future [3].

Last week it was reported that the pharmacists had submitted their initial “microunion” filing with the National Labor Relations Board after an initial ballot vote was passed 7 -2 [2]. The filing was noteworthy as the workers become the first union at any Target store since the retailer opened in 1902.

Yet, less than a week later, in a seemingly unrelated press release [3], Casey Carl, the Chief Technology and Strategy Officer at Target announced the company’s plan to develop automation systems and replace workers with robots in their retail locations as part of a new program with Techstars [4], an industry leader with a reputation for accelerating startups.