Storch Advisors CEO and former Toys”R”Us and Target executive Gerald Storch reacts to a strong November retail report and explains how industry winners are ‘value-based’ players.
As Costco finds itself embroiled in a public battle over its controversial DEI policies, a much larger fight is looming with 18,000 store employees set to head to the picket lines if the grocery chain can’t agree to a new contract by Friday.
“If Costco actually respects its employees, it will give our 18,000 members the wages, benefits and work rules that they have been demanding for months,” a Teamsters spokesperson told Fox News Digital.Â
The grocery wholesaler, who has long held a pro-worker image, has been locked in a protracted battle with the Teamsters Union, which represents 18,000 of Costco’s 219,000 U.S. worker base. The Teamsters are accusing the grocery club of not sharing its record $7.4 billion profits with its workers. The Teamsters have accused Costco of engaging in “illegal and reckless behavior” including kicking union reps out of stores, preventing employees from wearing Teamster buttons and changing the locks on union bulletin boards.
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Around 18,000 Costco workers may go on strike Friday. (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Talks finally broke down in January when Costco refused to reach a card check agreement. Card check is a process that would make it easier for workers to join unions by eliminating secret ballots. Eighty-five percent of Costco’s unionized employees voted to authorize a strike. The strike would affect 50 stores across the US in New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Washington.Â
As the Costco board voted overwhelmingly to reject an anti-DEI measure brought by activist investors at their shareholders meeting last Friday, workers rallied just outside their Washington offices – signaling the real fight was yet to come.
“Costco has two choices: respect the workers who made them a success or face a national strike. Costco Teamsters deserve an industry-leading contract that reflects the company’s massive profits. If Costco thinks they can exploit our members while raking in billions, we’ll shut them down,” Teamsters President Sean O’brien said in a statement.
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Costco is the first company known to have gone from $0 to $3 billion in sales in fewer than six years. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“What I can tell you is our contract with this company expires at midnight on Friday, and the reason Costco has made so much money over the past few years is its workers,” the Teamsters spokesperson told Fox News Digital.Â
Costco didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.Â
The potential strike comes as 19 states’ attorneys general called on Costco to drop their DEI policies, writing that the grocery chain must “end all unlawful discrimination imposed by the company through diversity, equity, and inclusion,” in a letter sent to Costco CEO Ron Vachris.
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When asked if the Teamsters thought that the wholesaler was picking a public fight about DEI to deflect attention away from its labor dispute, their spokesperson told Fox News Digital “I can’t really speculate as to why Costco makes certain decisions.”
