Costco Wholesale’s annual shareholders meeting Thursday was set to the sounds of chanting workers and a blaring semi-truck air horn from the streets below the company’s Issaquah headquarters.
“Who are we? Teamsters. What do we want? A contract. When do we want it? Now. If we don’t get it? Shut them down,” shouted dozens of Costco Teamsters union members on Jan. 23.
Earlier this month, 85% of Costco Teamsters voted to authorize a strike if they don’t come to an agreement with Costco by Jan. 31, according to a Teamsters news release. The current contract, the Costco Teamsters National Master Agreement, went into effect Feb. 1, 2022, and covers more than 18,000 Costco workers.
At the end of its last fiscal year in September, Costco reported $254 billion in revenue and $7.4 billion in net income. Since 2018, Costco’s revenue has increased 139%.
The Teamsters say they are looking for a contract that reflects the store’s success. As negotiations are still pending, members did not provide specifics on numbers for the new contract, but they said they are hoping for increased wages and better health benefits.
Robert Campus, a Costco fleet driver out of the Sumner distribution center, has been with the company for more than 11 years. In that time, he said that he has noticed a shift in the company’s core values.
“When I came to the company, the company was built off of family values and taking care of the people,” he said. “That core value has dropped, and they’ve slowly taken more medical benefits away, taken our dental benefits away and not given us our raises … So it’s been making it hard for employees to live off of.”
Paul Lowrie, a driver out of Sumner who’s been with Costco since 2021, said all employees get free memberships to the store, but they can’t all necessarily afford to shop there. Like Campus, he’s hoping for increased wages and benefits.
“I hope we really do get up to industry standards, or even above it, like Costco used to brag about,” he said.
The Teamsters said they have never rallied outside of Costco headquarters before, but it was important that they “send a message” to the shareholders who were present. The Sumner distribution center drivers unionized in October, joining Teamsters Local 174 and becoming the first group of Costco distribution center workers to organize with Teamsters.
At that time, Lowrie said, it was difficult to get in contact with Costco leadership.
“We complained. We went through all the right channels at Costco, and they ignored us,” he said. “We called their corporate hotlines, went to supervisors, went to managers. When they found out we were trying to unionize, they finally showed up.”
When asked if Teamsters had heard from Costco in regards to Thursday’s rally, Campus said the union got a six-minute phone call from Costco leadership Thursday morning, but he did not provide specifics on the conversation.
Costco and Teamsters have eight days to come to an agreement on the new contract; otherwise, the workers will go on strike.
“What we’re asking for is the best wages and the best benefits that this company has ever offered in its history,” said Teamsters spokesperson Matt McQuaid. “And they can afford it.”
Members of the Costco Teamsters union stand for a group photo with their picket signs, Jan. 23, 2025. (Grace Gorenflo/Valley Record)
A Teamsters Local 174 truck parked in the median of Lake Drive, Jan. 23, 2025. The truck’s driver set off its air horn periodically throughout the Teamsters rally. (Grace Gorenflo/Valley Record)
