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Costco, Teamsters reach tentative agreement, avert strike in 6 states

By Allen Cone
The Costco store in Silver Spring, Md., was among those in six states threatened with a strike by Teamsters union members. File photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
The Costco store in Silver Spring, Md., was among those in six states threatened with a strike by Teamsters union members. File photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- The Teamsters Union said Saturday a strike at 56 Costco membership club stores across six states has been been averted, one day after the wholesale club announced pay for non-union workers nationwide will rise to between $20 and $30 per hour.

The Teamsters on Saturday posted on X: "BREAKING: The Costco Teamsters National Negotiating Committee has reached a tentative agreement for a new contract. Additional details will be shared soon. The tentative agreement will be presented to the membership for a vote. Stay tuned."

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Costco Teamsters represents more than 18,000 employees.

In all, there are 219,000 workers at 616 U.S. stores, according to company filings. Its revenue was $254.3 billion in 2024 with net income of $7.4 billion. There are approximately 137 million members worldwide.

The states with Teamsters members are in California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Washington state, where the company is based.

Costco had said Friday said "all of our locations will be open for business this weekend." They apparently planned to use management and non-union staff.

The union originally represented Price Club workers, and Costco acquired the chain in 1993 Costco opened its first warehouse store in 1983 in Seattle.

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The union, which authorized a strike on Jan. 20, had demanded better wages and benefits, along with seniority pay, paid family leave, bereavement policies, sick time and safeguards against surveillance.

The old agreement expired at 11:59 p.m. PST Friday,

Earlier Friday, Costco sent a letter to all employees at non-union stores announcing it was raising top pay by a dollar an hour, to $30.20 this year and another dollar an hour each of the next two years. Starting pay would be raised by 50 cents an hour to $20, according to a memo from Chief Executive Officer Ron Vachris.

Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world behind Walmart and Amazon.

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