WASHINGTON—Costco is facing several unfair labor practice charges brought by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for violating federal labor law and their national master agreement in a “calculated effort to undermine workers’ rights and disrupt the collective bargaining process,” the union said.
“Costco’s so-called ‘pro-worker’ image is now nothing more than a talking point for investors,” said Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien. “We are not here for empty rhetoric—we’re here to win an industry-leading contract that stops Costco’s corporate backsliding and guarantees workers the right to organize with a card-check agreement.”
The Teamsters’ contract with Costco will end on Jan. 31, 2025 and covers 18,000 workers across the country. The Teamsters suspended negotiations in August after Costco refused to support workers’ legal right to unionize and agree to a card check process, which would have made it easier for nonunion workers to join the union without facing threats or interference.
Can’t have it both ways
“Costco can’t have it both ways. A company can’t call itself ‘worker-friendly’ while standing in the way of its workers’ right to form a union,” said Lynda Linville, a 46-year Costco worker and member of Teamsters Local 542 in San Diego.
Costco is one of the biggest employers in the U.S. Of their 200,000 workers, around 10 percent are represented by the Teamsters. Costco is ranked as the 11th largest U.S. corporation on the Fortune 500 and reported $242 billion in revenue and $29.7 billion in annual gross profits in 2023.
The Teamsters reported that Costco expelled union representatives from stores, harassed and intimidated workers for wearing union buttons and sent them home, changed locks on union bulletin boards, removed literature, and blocked the union from providing updates. Costco has even gone so far as to call the police on its own workers for standing up for their federally and contractually protected labor rights.
“This is not the Costco I joined 37 years ago. Something has changed, and not for the better,” said Christopher Reed, a front-end cashier and member of Teamsters Local 570 in Glen Burnie, Md.
“We can all feel the shift in the corporate culture. Management has become disconnected and dismissive, eroding the appreciation and respect we once had. The top executives have chosen to prioritize corporate shareholders over the very workers who drive this company’s success.”
On September 4, Costco CEO Ron Vachris issued a letter to all Costco employees across the country trying to defend their conduct in negotiations and disparaging the union, which angered workers at the stores and warehouses all over the country. The letter even made its way onto Reddit, an online discussion forum, where the comments were almost exclusively in support of the Teamsters and their fight to get a fair contract.
“While we personally think it was a poor public relations choice for Costco to draw so much attention to this negotiation, we respect Costco management’s rights to run their company as foolishly as they choose,” Local 174 said in response.
Earlier this year, 500 Costco workers in Norfolk, Va (Local 882) and Sumner, Wash. (Local 174) joined the Teamsters after successful organizing drives. At first, Costco tried to keep the Norfolk workers out of the national master agreement and force them into a separate contract with no pension. The workers overwhelmingly rejected that proposal and authorized a strike.
“The militancy we see in Norfolk is happening all across the country,” said Teamsters Warehouse Division Director Tom Erickson. “The company’s illegal actions will only strengthen our resolve to fight back. This is a war they will ultimately regret starting.”
The 150 Costco fleet drivers in Sumner authorized a strike in August, after winning their union election in April, due to Costco’s refusal to bargain in good faith. Costco then buckled and agreed to a three-month contract that will expire on the same day as the national master agreement early next year.
Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), the democratic reform caucus within the union that supports president O’Brien’s administration, said with all Costco Teamsters united under one national contract, they will have more leverage at the bargaining table. But the company is doing everything it can to prevent that so they can divide the stores and continue to reap massive profits.
“The Teamsters will not back down from this fight,” O’Brien said. “Costco’s blatant disregard for its obligations under federal law and our contract is not just illegal – it’s a shameless betrayal of every worker who built this company.”
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