The Blubber

A union representing thousands of Costco employees has voted to authorize a strike, setting the stage for a potential work stoppage if negotiations between the labor group and the retailer fail to yield an agreement.

The Teamsters union, which represents 18,000 Costco workers nationwide, announced that 85% of its members voted in favor of strike authorization. The current contract between the union and Costco is set to expire on January 31.

“Costco’s greedy executives have less than two weeks to do the right thing,” Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said in a statement. “If they refuse, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves when our members go on strike.”

A strike could significantly disrupt operations at the popular retailer and potentially damage Costco’s reputation, which has long been associated with positive worker treatment and, more recently, support for diversity and inclusion efforts.

The Teamsters stated on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that they plan to engage in a final week of negotiations with Costco. Last week, the union conducted practice pickets in preparation for a potential strike, with demonstrations taking place in cities such as San Diego and Long Island, New York.

Earlier this year, the union criticized Costco’s counterproposal during negotiations, describing it as “insulting” and unreflective of the company’s “historic financial success.” The union also highlighted the lack of improvements to retirement benefits in the proposal.

“This strike vote is a direct response to Costco’s greed and blatant disregard for the bargaining process,” said Tom Erickson, director of the Teamsters Warehouse Division, in a press release. “Costco claims to treat workers better than the competition, but right now, it’s failing to live up to that reputation. Management has less than two weeks to fix this—if they don’t, they’ll face the consequences.”