The Daily Populous Tuesday January 21st, 2025 morning edition
Authored by abcnews.go.com and submitted by panda-rampage

The Teamsters union represents more than 18,000 Costco workers.

Teamsters union members working at Costco Wholesale locations across the country voted to authorize a strike on Sunday, with more than 85% of members in favor of hitting the picket lines.

The union represents more than 18,000 Costco employees nationally.

"Our members have spoken loud and clear -- Costco must deliver a fair contract, or they'll be held accountable," Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien said in a press release Sunday.

GRAYS, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 5: A general view of a Costco Wholesale at Lakeside Retail Park on February 5, 2024 in Grays, United Kingdom. (Photo by John Keeble/Getty Images) John Keeble/Getty Images

"From day one, we've told Costco that our members won't work a day past January 31 without a historic, industry-leading agreement. Costco's greedy executives have less than two weeks to do the right thing. If they refuse, they'll have no one to blame but themselves when our members go on strike."

The union says "fair wages and benefits" are the catalyst for the strike.

According to the union, the wholesale giant recently reported $254 billion in annual revenue and $7.4 billion in net profits, which marked a 135% increase since 2018.

"Yet, despite these record gains, the company refuses to meet the Teamsters' demands for fair wages and benefits that reflect the company's enormous success," the union said.

In preparation for the strike, last week hundreds of Costco Teamsters nationwide organized practice pickets from Hayward, California, to Sumner, Washington, and Long Island, New York.

"We are the backbone of Costco," Bryan Fields, a Costco worker in Baltimore and member of Teamsters Local 570 said in the press release. "We drive its success and generate its profits. We hope the company will step up and do right by us, but if they don't, that's on them. The company will be striking itself."

marksteele6 on January 20th, 2025 at 23:00 UTC »

Something to remember folks, the unions demands are almost never what they actually want. The union is asking high, and management is asking low.

Generally what will happen when a union gets a strike mandate is the company will calculate the damage done from a strike vs the costs to fulfill the union demands and then pitch an offer somewhere in the middle of what they want and what the union wants. That's how progress is made and why having a strike mandate is such an important part of the negotiation process.

Edit: Another note, this is not a strike, it's just a strike mandate. Essentially it gives the union negotiators more leverage because they can say "Our membership have authorized us to set a date for job action if you don't work with us on this". Job action can also take different forms, things like rotating strikes or work to rule are both types of job actions that are less impactful than a full strike. Ideally there will also be some form of non-binding arbitration that takes place between now and any potential job action, often an independent third party can help cut through some of the more unrealistic expectations from both sides.

DreamingDjinn on January 20th, 2025 at 22:32 UTC »

Really? I've always heard Costco employees are really well taken care of pay-wise. Or has that changed in recent years?

panda-rampage on January 20th, 2025 at 21:40 UTC »

Teamsters union members working at Costco Wholesale locations across the country voted to authorize a strike on Sunday, with more than 85% of members in favor of hitting the picket lines.

The union represents more than 18,000 Costco employees nationally.

“Our members have spoken loud and clear — Costco must deliver a fair contract, or they’ll be held accountable,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a press release Sunday.

“From day one, we’ve told Costco that our members won’t work a day past January 31 without a historic, industry-leading agreement. Costco’s greedy executives have less than two weeks to do the right thing. If they refuse, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves when our members go on strike.”

The union says “fair wages and benefits” are the catalyst for the strike.

According to the union, the wholesale giant recently reported $254 billion in annual revenue and $7.4 billion in net profits, which marked a 135% increase since 2018.

“Yet, despite these record gains, the company refuses to meet the Teamsters’ demands for fair wages and benefits that reflect the company’s enormous success,” the union said