Costco Teamsters vote to authorize strike

Eighteen thousand Costco Teamsters are preparing to strike if a "fair contract offer" is not presented by the end of the month.

Eighty-five percent of Costco Teamsters across the U.S. voted in favor of authorizing the strike, according to a Sunday press release. Tensions had been building throughout the week, as Teamsters put up several Costco-related posts on its social media.

"From day one, we’ve told Costco that our members won’t work a day past January 31 without a historic, industry-leading agreement," Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement. 

"Costco’s greedy executives have less than two weeks to do the right thing. If they refuse, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves when our members go on strike," O'Brien continued.

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Costco employee helping monitor customers at Self Check-out kiosks in a Florida store. (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group / Getty Images)

Teamsters said on X the "final week of negotiations begins on January 20."

Practice pickets have been held in California, Washington and Long Island "in preparation for a potential strike."

Hundreds in San Diego are preparing to mobilize a large practice picket by Thursday, Teamsters said. 

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Customers lined up at checkout counters in a very busy Costco store in Queens, New York. (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group / Getty Images)

Costco's first location opened in 1976 under the Price Club's name "in a converted airplane hangar on Morena Boulevard in San Diego," the retail giant's website says. Today, the membership warehouse club "is a multi-billion dollar global retailer with warehouse club operations in eight countries." 

Costco's website also says the company "is often noted for being much more employee-focused than other Fortune 500 companies. By offering fair wages and top-notch benefits, the company has created a workplace culture that attracts positive, high-energy, talented employees."

In an aerial view, the Costco logo is displayed on the exterior of a Costco store on July 11, 2024, in Richmond, California.  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)

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Costco did not immediately respond to a Gxstocks request for comment.

"We are the backbone of Costco," Bryan Fields, a Costco worker in Baltimore and member of Teamsters Local 570 said in a statement. "We drive its success and generate its profits. We hope the company will step up and do right by us, but if they don’t, that’s on them. The company will be striking itself."