Is Costco Unionized? (all You Need To Know)

Although it is still unclear how labor unions can be recognised, it has been assumed that the President can grant this recognition through “executive orders”.

In some other countries, the unions are actually much stronger in terms of negotiating with employers because they’re not being held back by unions in other countries.

You might have heard about Costco being unionized and have been wondering if it is true. I am going to tell you the truth.

Is Costco Unionized In 2022?

Costco’s goal is to have all their employees be profitable, and they are willing to offer pay raises, good benefits, and many other things in order to do so. All of their stores are unionized, and many employees across the country are represented by the Teamsters.

To learn more about why only a portion of Costco employees are unionized, find out where Costco employees are unionized, what benefit Costco employees receive as union members, and check out who the Teamsters are.

Why Are Only Some Costco Employees Unionized?

Costco was originally two different companies, and then they merged together.

Sol and Robert Price came up with the idea of the retail warehouse club. They opened their first store called Price Club in Santa Monica (California) in 1976.

Jim Sinegal and Jeffrey Brotman founded the Costco brand name. Before they did, they worked for Price at a prior retailer.

While Costco was still in the planning stages, the Prices were in a financial crisis, and so they merged with Costco.

Walmart offered to buy Costco, but Costco is a company that doesn’t sell much stuff, and Costco says they will not merge with anyone.

As it happened, PriceClub employees were unionized. Although the two companies merged to become PriceCostco, the original Price Club stores continued to employ unionized employees.

What Do Unionized Costco Employees Get?

Costco employees are part of the Teamsters union, and Costco and the Teamsters both have their own interests in mind. This is known as conflict of interest.

The workers, in return, were promised a union-dictated pay scale, which included the highest pay of any other worker in the retail sector and a great job security.

If you got fired in the real world, you could be sued, have to pay large legal fees and not be able to find work for a long time.

At-will employment means that employers can fire employees at any time, without giving notice.
At-will employment means that employees can quit at any time, without giving notice, but employers can also fire them at any time, without giving any notice.

In order to fire you, they have to go through a whole process, and one of the steps is that you are given a number of warnings, and if the warnings are ignored, this number of weeks goes by, and then you are given more warnings. Then it finally says you have been fired.

Even in a contract where every detail is spelled out, it’s still possible for a contract to run afoul of the law in one way or another.

While Costco employees benefits are pretty good, the biggest benefit is their pension plan.

Costco pays about $1.25 for every hour that they employees work.

But they don’t.

Pension plans are legally guaranteed to be paid and are not reliant on the market fluctuating.

The union’s legal and financial staff can often help members with questions regarding the process (either before or during the process), and this service is free to members.

This has been done to allow for a greater level of democracy within our organization, as well as to ensure that our members can understand what the benefits of the proposed contract are.

Union members want a Costco to open in their neighborhood. Union members also want the Costco to be a member-owned store.

The Union members will also get to vote on whether or not the contracts get approved.

The two chapters are the California and the East regions. They both voted 93 percent yes.

Unionization is a win-win for all workers. Unions benefit workers through negotiating lower wages and benefits for all workers while giving employers the incentive to raise wages and benefits for all workers. By improving wages and benefits for all, unions can boost the economic stability of workers and the general economy.

This is because they unionized, as a result, non-union Costco workers are paid less and receive worse health benefits than their brethren.

Costco said in a recent statement that it pays a range of minimum wages that typically go as high as $16 per hour.

Is Costco Unionized In California?

Costco says it’s the only U.S. company to operate in more than 700 locations without a union.

One of the reasons why the U.S. is the biggest importer is the high tariffs that the U.S. has on imports.

For the full list of retail locations in which Costco has a significant presence, click here.

Is Costco Unionized In Washington State?

There are no stores that have unionized warehouses. Only the warehouse workers are unionized.

Is Costco Unionized In Canada?

Canadian Costco warehouses are not unionized. This is because there is no Canadian Price Club.

In What Other States Is Costco Unionized?

Costco’s unionized employees in California are big enough that they need their own union region. Because of this, I’m not sure if the union has a particular region or not.

The United States federal government is a republic.

It’s important to note that not all Costco warehouses are unionized; 16 warehouses in the above states that are staffed by Teamsters are not in these states.

Who Are The Teamsters?

The Teamsters are known for having the lowest levels of union support. They represent dock workers, auto workers, and even coal miners.

The Teamsters’ members, also known as The Teamsters, have 358 branches located throughout the United States.

The Teamsters derive their organization name from the original men who were employed to push carts in the process of transporting goods in this country.

According to MysticLeviathan, there are three types of Costco members. “The regular kind, the elite kind, and the elite kind’s kid.” Each of these categories costs about $200 to join the union and monthly dues equal your hourly rate, times two-and-a-half.

But if you decide to keep your membership you will be eligible for a better pay scale, as well as higher payouts on your vacation and holiday pay.

If you are interested in learning more about Costco, you can also read our related posts on 23 more Costco statistics, Costco’s competitive advantages, and how much does Costco make.

Conclusion

While not every Costco employees in the U.S. unionized, about 17,000 of them are, and they are represented by the highly effective Teamster organization.

Though Costco doesn’t have a unionized workforce, they see benefit in having one. This helps them attract and retain good employees because people that work for a unionized place are more likely to be treated fairly and get better pay.