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- cross-posted to:
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Summary
Over 18,000 unionized Costco employees, represented by the Teamsters, voted overwhelmingly to authorize a nationwide strike if a new contract is not reached by January 31.
Workers demand “fair wages and benefits,” citing Costco’s $254 billion in annual revenue and a 135% profit increase since 2018.
Practice pickets have already begun nationwide.
Union leaders warn that failure to reach a “historic, industry-leading agreement” could result in a strike, with workers emphasizing their role as the “backbone” of the company’s success.
I thought Costco was a good employer?
“Good” can be relative but isn’t necessarily fair. They might treat their employees better than Walmart but making record profits and not sharing with the employees is not fair or good. The union exists to make them be fair.
Consider that a company has no problem asking the union for concessions during low times. It’s only fair for the union to demand a share of the high times.
They want a raise. I expect they also want more headcount. Go to a Costco warehouse in a major city and it’s absolutely wild how overrun they are. People are buying from Costco because buying in bulk is the only way to make it with current food prices.
If the members don’t deliver a strike mandate to Union leadership, they have no leverage during contract negotiations. Voting against a strike is directly voting against your own interests no matter how good the employer is.
This righ here, Costco is better than the competition, they still leave a lot to be desired, especially for corp employees
That may be why the union leaders aren’t talking about matching the market or something similar, but instead a “historic, industry-leading agreement”.
They were. It’s been over 10 years since I worked there, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they still are comparatively good, but that’s because they have a union.
This is general practice when profits grow. It creates leverage for negotiations, but my understanding is Cosco has always been pretty good when that time comes (comparatively).