[SurfScore]

It always comes down to price. The vast majority of people in the world aren't so self-righteous that they'll pay $10 more for something that was produced "the right way."

This has always been the nature of these kinds of businesses, and until robots and technology take those jobs away completely (which opens up a whole other can of worms), it will just keep happening

[DanI-S]

The author mentions that picking 800 items filled 52% of her daily quota. An extra 5c shipping cost per item could thus double her salary, or pay for an entire extra employee.

There's no need for this kind of brutal efficiency. It is detrimental to our society and our economy. Workers who develop crippling health conditions and can never afford to retire are a massive burden on our systems of welfare.

[intended]

Or ironically get called dead weight later.

[neilk]

You're right that most consumers don't really act like it's a priority for them, even when labeling regimes exist and they have said that ethical products are important. The best you can get is a 10% premium from a segment of relatively wealthy and socially conscious people.[1]

However, for those that do, I'm not sure "self-righteous" is the right term. I think the word you were looking for was "non-hypocritical".

Anyway, I think this just shows that the checkout counter isn't the right place for us to exert our ethical standards. When no one's really watching, and the pain is significant, we're weak, atomized individuals. We even know that our individual purchasing decisions mean zero to giant economic forces. So it's rational to just go for the lower price. All progress with labor standards have come about in other ways - journalism, legislation, and unionization.

[1] http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~hiscox/Depelsmacker.pdf

[winestock]

"Economists dismiss costs that aren't included in price. For them the cost that matters is the price paid by consumers." - Paul Craig Roberts, Which Is Worse: Regulation Or De-Regulation?

Sadly, customers often act the same way as economists on this issue.

EDIT: Punctuation

[neilk]

Bad economists maybe. DanI-S's sibling comment to yours points out the costs that this offloads onto the government and health care system.