this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2025
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[–] Yawweee877h444@lemmy.world 3 points 19 minutes ago (1 children)

This makes me want to buy a Costco membership, just because of this. I don't even really need much bulk stuff.

Time to go check them out again. If I can justify buying any minimal amount of stuff, I'll do it.

Good on Costco.

[–] Ferrous@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 minutes ago

This is literally right off the back of Costco making these negotiations as difficult as possible for the union. https://teamster.org/2025/01/costco-walks-away-from-bargaining-table/

On top of that, this new move was so lackluster that a strike could still be on the table. https://www.npr.org/2025/01/31/nx-s1-5280640/costco-pay-raises-teamsters-union-threatens-strike

"Costco is still shorting their workers because nonunion workers lack the retirement security of a defined benefit pension plan and the job protections that come with a union contract," McQuaid said in an email.

Companies are not things to love. The progress we see in this headline was because of the hard work of unions - NOT the goodness in Costco's heartbeat

[–] MapleEngineer@lemmy.world 3 points 23 minutes ago

Costco has figured out that paying their employees well and treating them well is good for business and have decided that good business is more important that the feeling of satisfaction that most CEOs get from treating their employees like serfs. Their industrial investors have figured out that diverse companies with diverse management perform better than companies run by white, rich men that employ only white men and voted down a christofascist virtue signalling attempt to overturn their DEI programs.

[–] noxypaws@pawb.social 7 points 1 hour ago

Workers at the bottom of the scale will get raises of 50 cents to $20, according to the memo. The changes apply to employees at non-union locations.

Huh

[–] Snapz@lemmy.world 11 points 1 hour ago (2 children)

Does anyone know if there's a monkey paw angle on this, or genuine win for the workers?

[–] nimble@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 45 minutes ago

A week ago their union announced 80% support amongst their union workers for increased pay and they threatened to strike starting jan 31st if wages weren't increased. I forget exact numbers but last year they still made like 7 billion in income (200billion revenue) so they could afford to give their employees raises.

Don't get me wrong, Costco is cool and nice, but this is why unions are good

[–] PiousAgnostic@lemmy.world 15 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Costco has always invested heavily in thier workers. I love the place. Even the people selling the hotdogs are making a livable wage, and you can tell by how everyone in that store is helpful and nice.

Sam's club is the evil twin owned by Walmart. I go waaay out of my way to pass a Sam's club and shop at Costco.

[–] Snapz@lemmy.world 2 points 30 minutes ago

Sure, but there was a reason that strike was threatened and unions said that Costco had been intentionally slow walking at every turn. Even waiting until the last second here was likely calculated and considered down to the dollar versus lost sentiment in public perception and PR spend to attempt to recover image. Very cynical, but happy if it ultimately worked out. If...

[–] RagingRobot@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

That seems fair

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 13 points 3 hours ago

OMG, this is so DEI/woke! I hope donvict will lean on these guys and make them stop this terrible stuff.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 8 points 3 hours ago (3 children)

I have a feeling this is some anti union move, given it's happening during negotiations with the Teamsters. Perhaps it's a smaller increase than what the union members want, meant to weaken their resolve?

[–] CatLikeLemming@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 15 minutes ago

If you read the actual article, there are two things that stand out:

The changes apply to employees at non-union locations.

and

Other benefits for non-union workers include an additional week of vacation after 30 years of employment and vacation for new employees during their first year.

So from my understanding you may very well be correct, instead of trying to block unions through negative reinforcement, they try to block them by rewarding you for not joining one.

[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 10 points 3 hours ago (3 children)

Costco is one of the most pro worker employers in the US

[–] VitoRobles@lemmy.today 12 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Until they're not.

Everything is cool right now for them because they got good management. But at some point, some MBA grad gets elected to lead and drain Costco out of all good will.

Same with Steam.

[–] T00l_shed@lemmy.world 5 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Yeah I'm scared of what will happen to steam when Gabe retires. I hope he's hand picked a really solid successor

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 hour ago

Oh yeah, that's a big one. I hope they're learning some theory so they are able to do the right restructuring. A hand picked leader could work, transferring ownership to Valve's employees and reforming it as a worker co-op along with that would be more resilient.

[–] TrueStoryBob@lemmy.world 5 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Right now... it's "one of the most pro worker employers in the US" right now.

If they have no problem with being such, then they shouldn't mind a few collectively bargained contacts which ensure they stay that way.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 hour ago

And that's the thing, from what I read, they've been difficult during the ongoing negotiations.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 7 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

anti union move

Bold move, increasing employee salaries to fight unions!

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Not sure if this is sarcasm or not so I'm gonna say it - yes offering higher wages to obsolete a union is literally a strategy to get rid of the union. It's just the least reprehensible strategy. Once the union's gone, the pay increases can get less steep or disappear altogether. If there's nothing for workers to hold over the firm's head and the labor market in their sector isn't tight (it isn't) then the firm sets the wages.

If I've learned anything about corporations over the last few years it's that nothing stops them from seeking profit growth and the long term trend is that anything is fair game, even previously great employee compensation. There might be people in Costco's exec/shareholder layer who are ideologically driven to pay workers well. They aren't going to stay there forever. If you want to glean at how things are likely to change, just look at how most other firms are operated. Chances are the next exec layer would come from there.

[–] TrueStoryBob@lemmy.world 6 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (2 children)

Yeah, was gonna say, this is 100% Anti-Union Tactics 101. Literally get warned about this kind of stuff while organizing and there's a history of it dating back to the beginnings of labor organizing.

The trap is laid out thusly: promise unionizing workers a pay rise without a collective bargaining contact. The workers reject unionization because the wages are "fair." A year to two years later, after all talk of unionization has died down and they've had a chance to fire or layoff the organizers, the company will then walk back all wage hikes citing "needed" cost cutting measures and the workers get screwed.

Remember folks, you have a right to collectively bargain and unionize (at least right now; who knows what Trump and this SCOTUS might do over the next four years)... without a legally binding labor contract, every benefit and every red cent of your pay is at the whim of the company (and lobbyist addicted politicians). Companies only have one directive: profit. They'll do anything (including taking a wash on twelve to eighteen months of wage hikes) to ensure profits. Do not ever forget that united we bargain, divided we beg.

[–] unphazed@lemmy.world 1 points 26 minutes ago

He fired the head of the NLRB. Our unions are in great peril. I'm thinking it might be time to buy some red handkerchiefs.

[–] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 hour ago

Profit growth, not merely profit. 📈

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