Teamsters authorize Costco strike ahead of Jan. 31 contract lapse

Teamsters working for wholesale giant Costco voted to authorize a strike ahead of a Jan. 31 contract expiration, the labor group said in a statement.

The contract covers more than 18,000 Costco workers, and Teamsters voted to strike by an 85 percent margin, the union said.

“Costco recently reported $254 billion in annual revenue and $7.4 billion in net profits – a 135 percent 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 Teamsters said.

Costco cites labor disputes as among the “risks” affecting its supply chains and has described a need to control labor and benefits costs.

“Our ability to control labor and benefit costs is subject to numerous internal and external factors, including regulatory changes, prevailing wage rates, union relations and healthcare and other insurance costs,” the company said in its 2024 annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Teamsters president Sean O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention ahead of the 2024 election, becoming the first Teamsters president to do so. The union declined to endorse a candidate for president, a move that many saw as an implicit nod to Trump.

Trump nominated former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (Ore.) to head the Department of Labor, an atypically pro-union Republican who supported the PRO Act, which expands workers' ability to unionize.

Work stoppages in the retail sector numbered 37 in 2023, up from nine in 2022, according to the Cornell Industrial and Labor Relations School’s labor action tracker. The stoppages affected more than 3,000 workers and comprised more than 50,000 strike days.

Labor activity across the U.S. surged following the post-pandemic inflation and public sentiment toward unions improved as many industries saw workers go on strike for better pay, benefits and working conditions.

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