Costco Increases Pay to Over $30 an Hour for Most Store Workers

Unions and striking work

Which is why Trump will be making them illegal ASAP.

Worked at Costco for 2 years. Most of the employees love their jobs. I wanted more and move on, but kid you not, there are people still working at my old warehouse that started the same day I did 20 years ago. Wages were good, the benefits were great, and everyone respected each other.
- How physically demanding is it?
- I go to Costco, and I often notice the same set of workers there year over year. One of our former neighbors worked there and had several family members working there.
  You don't see that often in retail. They must be doing something right.
Here's to less soulcrushing work and more fascistcrushing work!
- I hear fascist crushers are understaffed
I hate to break it to you but they're nearly impossible to get jobs in because practically no one quits. I tried. The only way in is as a seasonal hire and then pray they decide to keep you :/

Interesting to see how valuable employees are isn't it

Most importantly... if you ask the conservatives, if you pay your workers a living wage, you fail capitalism your stock prices are doomed
https://www.financecharts.com/compare/COST,WMT
Yet unless I'm an idiot, when I put the chart out to 10 years... I see costco's stock price leaping... and walmarts price pretty damn flat.
- It looks that way because Costco’s stock per unit is around 10x of that of Walmart.* Costco did grow more in five years. 220% vs 150% of Walmart.
  https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/COST/
  https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/WMT/
  *There are many mode units of Walmart stock so the company is worth more in total. But you’d be better of buying COST five years ago. For the soul and wallet 😄)
- I live near a city that has both a Sam's Club and a Costco. I wonder how they compare vis a vis sales, pay, and employee retention?

Meanwhile Costco in Australia is pushing to have penalty rates abolished. They might be good by American standards but they can get fucked trying to erode Australian workers rights.

What's a "penalty rates"?
- Had to look it up myself, it's their name for what Americans call "overtime"
  like if you work over 40 hours in a week, any hours you work over 40 are paid out at 150% of your normal rate, some places do 200% for Sunday or holidays.
  Found this article from a couple days ago.
  https://www.actu.org.au/media-release/1-million-australian-workers-at-risk-of-penalty-rate-cuts-while-bossesare-promised-free-lunches/
Trump promised no taxes on what we call overtime. Usually employers will pay 1.5x over 40hrs. However the taxes for those hours get deducted from your paycheck at your highest marginal tax rate. When you file your tax return this all balances out, but you don't see much immediate gain from working OT and people will say "I don't want to get bumped into the next tax bracket, so I don't want a raise!" Even correcting a coworker one time, they responded, "you'll learn when you're older."
My guess is that employers will stop paying the additional pay and tell the workers they're making more this way. So basically a "tax cut" but employers will ultimately get the benefit of it. People in the U.S. don't understand how taxes work and pay to file them even though it's really easy for the majority of people. They even call the basic form a 1040-EZ.
- “I don’t want to get bumped into the next tax bracket,
  There are other reasons why someone will not want a raise. There are cases where getting a small raise will bump you out of benefits completely. Extra $20 a month may cost you $200 in benefits. In the USA anyways. I agree with your statement.
- I got a good chuckle out of the doubling down "learn when you're older" until I realized you had to see them 5 times a week. Sorry, that sucks and it is sad how little Americans know of their own country. Like when people talk of immigration as if you can just fill out a form and be American tomorrow- they don't even know most countries need a visa just for vacation into the US. And man I hate taxes so much- it grinds my gears that we've got these tax corporations bending us over when they have all the info to not require filling out tax forms for the majority of people.
- BTW, that 1040-EZ form no longer exists. Out since 2018.

Ok fine, maybe now I'll consider getting a membership. But I still don't have room for bulk items.

They sell 36x18x60 shelves for $30. Just started going last week and it was the first thing I looked for
- Look at this guy who doesn’t live in a 400sqft apartment with only street parking.
- That implies that they don't have room for bulk items but do have room for giant shelves? Sometimes a lack of space is just a lack of space.
I don't qualify for membership, but as far as I can tell its generally only useful if you want to get expensive branded items for a bit less. I could get the same product type for less at Aldi. 12 tins of chopped tomatoes for £7.19, meanwhile at Aldi they are £0.39 each which would come to £4.68 for 12 of them.
Also I can walk to Aldi, the nearest costco is like a £30 return on the train. I normally only spend £30 on shopping each week for the 2 of us anyway.
- You need to qualify for membership in the UK?
  As an American, It's the cheapest place to get a variety of fruits, veggies, several types of cheese, coffee, and toilet paper, at least on average. The catch is just that you need to buy in large quantities. They definitely have fancy and expensive brands too, but I don't think they do as well here. They're also a really popular place to fuel up cars, because they're usually cheaper than the area around them, but sometimes up to 10% cheaper.
  I guess that you need to drive a car there is also a catch, but I just moved to the second place I've ever lived that's within reasonable walking distance of a grocery store, so driving to get groceries is normal to me. I lived near an Aldi for a few years, which was awesome.
- Mmm, my local Aldi was dirty with sad looking produce and really cheap tasting boxed stuff last time I went. Not even close to Costco TBH, and not even that cheap either.
  This is in the southern US though, could be totally flipped elsewhere.
- Yeah, Costco is a a store for the upper middle class suburban family type. That was basically always their bread and butter as those are people with the space and need for constant shopping that can be sold some faux premium items alongside some real ones as a one stop solution.
  Did you know Name Brands will make specific Costco versions that are meant to mimic the expected item but be slightly modified to use cheaper parts or less material.
  Edit for clarity: q-tips with less tip, Vitamix sold as same model but less parts or features, Lucky brand jeans using cheaper material, name brand sponges being thinner, name brand pads being less absorbent, all sold with the same name and branding as their non bulk counterpart but using less material to make them often inferior for price to value.
  There are so few things that are better or cheaper to buy in the bulk at Costco to get your money's worth of the yearly fee and that is the point. They make a profit.
  It just doesn't make much sense to shop at Costco if you are actually on a budget or don't have the space.
You can buy liquor from Costco without a membership, and it isn't packaged in bulk. Prices are most likely cheaper than liquor or grocery stores.
KS brands are made for Costco typically in the same places the name brands are and quality is very decent.
- That is likely very tied to where you live. Liquor sales laws vary widely from state to state, and sometimes county to county.
- I'm moving from a state where I can buy liquor in Costco to one where I can't :/
  Edit: that Kirkland añejo tequila is so fuckin good.

Workers at the bottom of the scale will get raises of 50 cents to $20, according to the memo. The changes apply to employees at non-union locations.

Huh

This makes me want to buy a Costco membership, just because of this. I don't even really need much bulk stuff.

Time to go check them out again. If I can justify buying any minimal amount of stuff, I'll do it.

Good on Costco.

This is literally right off the back of Costco making these negotiations as difficult as possible for the union. https://teamster.org/2025/01/costco-walks-away-from-bargaining-table/
On top of that, this new move was so lackluster that a strike could still be on the table. https://www.npr.org/2025/01/31/nx-s1-5280640/costco-pay-raises-teamsters-union-threatens-strike
"Costco is still shorting their workers because nonunion workers lack the retirement security of a defined benefit pension plan and the job protections that come with a union contract," McQuaid said in an email.
Companies are not things to love. The progress we see in this headline was because of the hard work of unions - NOT the goodness in Costco's heartbeat
Costco's good even if you don't need bulk stuff.
Not all the food is bulk sizes.
Their appliances have no extra/hidden fees for delivery, setup, and basic parts like the hoses for a washing machine. Some of the appliance stores near me advertise lower prices, but they add so many fees that it ends up more expensive.
They have a fantastic return policy.
Costco Travel have some great flight + hotel packages, all with extras of some sort (eg free breakfast, late checkout, waived parking or resort fee, Costco gift card, etc). I've gone on some trips where the flight + hotel package through Costco was cheaper than just booking the hotel by itself (essentially getting a free flight).
Where I live in California at least, Costco Gas is often at least $0.40/gallon cheaper than nearby gas stations.
- I’ve no knowledge of US stores and all that, but as a general rule, I’d be extremely suspicious of anyone offering so much cheaper gas as a rule. Also, free flights? There’s something rotten almost always, when the deals sound almost too good. There are no free lunches (in capitalist societies at least).

Does anyone know if there's a monkey paw angle on this, or genuine win for the workers?

A week ago their union announced 80% support amongst their union workers for increased pay and they threatened to strike starting jan 31st if wages weren't increased. I forget exact numbers but last year they still made like 7 billion in income (200billion revenue) so they could afford to give their employees raises.
Don't get me wrong, Costco is cool and nice, but this is why unions are good
Costco has always invested heavily in thier workers. I love the place. Even the people selling the hotdogs are making a livable wage, and you can tell by how everyone in that store is helpful and nice.
Sam's club is the evil twin owned by Walmart. I go waaay out of my way to pass a Sam's club and shop at Costco.
- Sure, but there was a reason that strike was threatened and unions said that Costco had been intentionally slow walking at every turn. Even waiting until the last second here was likely calculated and considered down to the dollar versus lost sentiment in public perception and PR spend to attempt to recover image. Very cynical, but happy if it ultimately worked out. If...
- Costco has always invested heavily in thier workers.
  Because of the unions, not because of the good will of the corporation...

Damn!

OMG, this is so DEI/woke! I hope donvict will lean on these guys and make them stop this terrible stuff.

Hell ya

I have a feeling this is some anti union move, given it's happening during negotiations with the Teamsters. Perhaps it's a smaller increase than what the union members want, meant to weaken their resolve?

Costco is one of the most pro worker employers in the US
Edit: every workplace should still be unionized
- Until they're not.
  Everything is cool right now for them because they got good management. But at some point, some MBA grad gets elected to lead and drain Costco out of all good will.
  Same with Steam.
- Right now... it's "one of the most pro worker employers in the US" right now.
  If they have no problem with being such, then they shouldn't mind a few collectively bargained contacts which ensure they stay that way.
anti union move
Bold move, increasing employee salaries to fight unions!
- Not sure if this is sarcasm or not so I'm gonna say it - yes offering higher wages to obsolete a union is literally a strategy to get rid of the union. It's just the least reprehensible strategy. Once the union's gone, the pay increases can get less steep or disappear altogether. If there's nothing for workers to hold over the firm's head and the labor market in their sector isn't tight (it isn't) then the firm sets the wages.
  If I've learned anything about corporations over the last few years it's that nothing stops them from seeking profit growth and the long term trend is that anything is fair game, even previously great employee compensation. There might be people in Costco's exec/shareholder layer who are ideologically driven to pay workers well. They aren't going to stay there forever. If you want to glean at how things are likely to change, just look at how most other firms are operated. Chances are the next exec layer would come from there.
If you read the actual article, there are two things that stand out:
The changes apply to employees at non-union locations.
and
Other benefits for non-union workers include an additional week of vacation after 30 years of employment and vacation for new employees during their first year.
So from my understanding you may very well be correct, instead of trying to block unions through negative reinforcement, they try to block them by rewarding you for not joining one.

Costco has figured out that paying their employees well and treating them well is good for business and have decided that good business is more important that the feeling of satisfaction that most CEOs get from treating their employees like serfs. Their industrial investors have figured out that diverse companies with diverse management perform better than companies run by white, rich men that employ only white men and voted down a christofascist virtue signalling attempt to overturn their DEI programs.

If Costco believed that a move such as the one in the headline was a common sense, good for business strategy, then why did they draw it out over months and months of grueling union negotiations, probably spending untold millions on lawyers?
The union strong armed Costco into making this decision - as they should.
- Costco offers some of the best pay and benefits in the industry. Their average employee tenure is over 8 years which is in the top 15% of companies of similar size.
  They're not perfect but they are better than most companies.

That seems fair

Costco is not good. Sure, unions are good because it causes corporations like costco to make decisions like like these, but I will never support a corporation that supports the genocide of the Palestinian people.

edit: Costco does not, as far as I can tell, actually support the genocide. I was mistaken, but I'm leaving it up so that the replies and subsequent conversation still make sense.

First time I'm hearing about this. A quick search shows this list of companies Muslims are/should boycott, and Costco is not listed. There is also this source I found claiming that while there is a single Costco warehouse in one Israeli city:
"Costco has publicly stated its commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which recognizes the right of both Israelis and Palestinians to self-determination. The company has also expressed its support for the efforts of organizations such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to provide humanitarian aid and support to Palestinians."
If you have some information I'm not seeing, feel free to share.
- oh! I must be confused. I usually use that list as well to find brands that support the genocide, and thought I had seen it on there.
  I didn't find it there, though I did find that Blackrock is a major shareholder:
  Costco’s major shareholders include institutional investors and renowned mutual funds like Vanguard Fiduciary Trust, BlackRock Advisors, State Street Corp, Geode Capital Management,...
  source
  Damn, I've been boycottting them for the wrong reason. I appreciate you pointing this out to me.