- cross-posted to:
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- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
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.
Thing is, Costco takes such good care of most of their frontline employees that the employees legitimately don’t see the need for a union, because the company is possibly the only one in the modern world that figured out it’s cheaper if you keep employees happy by paying them more.
Their pay scales and benefits are amazing for grocery store work, up to 30 an hour, and there is a direct promotion path from part time checkout clerk up to management with 100k+ salaries.
A So, their annual profits are almost the same amount as the total of their annual membership fees. That means that, essentially, Costco sells everything at cost + operating expenses. I respect the hell out of thst.
That being said, if the teamsters strike, I won’t cross the pocket line.
All employees of corporations need unions, because all corporations inherently have a motive to rob as much value from their employees as possible. And that’s the bandaid solution, not the true solution of ending capitalism.
Also, a large part of why they have it so good as is, is because they have a union. It’s like saying “we don’t need vaccines, we’re all healthy!” while forgetting that the vaccines themselves is what made health so good.