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A lot of people are supporting Costco for "keeping DEI", but recall that 18,000 Costco Union workers are going on strike on Feb 1.
They are striking over: "seniority pay, paid family leave, bereavement policies, sick time, and safeguards against surveillance."
Don't wash out the labour power with your support of so-called DEI policies when they're not actively supporting the needs and rights of workers.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/20/business/costco-strike-teamsters/index.html
Read what the Teamsters are striking against. Union busting too.
"The Teamsters recently filed unfair labor practice charges against Costco for expelling union representatives, harassing workers for wearing union buttons, sending employees home, removing union literature, and even changing locks on union bulletin boards. Notably, Costco rejected a proposal that would protect the union’s right to post on bulletin boards without interference — an agreement that could have addressed some of these labor board complaints."
https://teamster.org/2024/12/costco-refuses-to-accept-98-of-teamsters-proposals/
️ @mayintoronto @seachanger This may be naive, but if one honors the picket lines while they are up and spend their money in the store when they aren’t doesn’t that promote both desired outcomes?
@fuzzface @mayintoronto @seachanger Also worth bringing up that it's worth checking with the strikers, what actions, if any, they want customers to take. More customers can mean more pressure on management to come to the bargaining table. Boycotts and strikes aren't built out of the same systems-stuff
@sakiamu @mayintoronto @seachanger Good idea. Thank you!
@fuzzface @seachanger Costco makes money off your memberships. That's their profit margin. Shopping actually gives them nothing. Their suppliers hold most of the risk.
Also, not all their stores are unionized.
I can't help but wonder if this whole thing was just a PR stunt to hide the strike from the news.
@mayintoronto @seachanger Well, FWIW, if there is a strike I won’t renew nor purchase. I don’t have any data to support or refute your other points. That isn’t a rejection of them, just an acknowledgement of what I don’t know.
The problem with multi-dimensional thinking is often the only perfect solution is to do absolutely nothing in absence of available data, and I don’t think it is feasible to live like that.
@fuzzface @mayintoronto @seachanger This is my stance as well. DEI is table stakes, and Costco by all accounts seems to be one of the best retail employers in America. It's also true that the union can and should wield its power, and Costco should meet them at the table to find a compromise.
I'll stand with the workers every time, and I won't shop or renew my membership if there's a strike going on, but this is exactly how the system is supposed to work. It's a good thing!
@mayintoronto DEI is great if they actually do it, but unions can force employers to change.
Not a fan of Costco. I looked around at one once, many years ago. They were searching their customers as they left the building. I have never been back.
I know it makes me old and weird, but I won't patronize a store that searches me on my way out.
Why would I join a club that treats me like a criminal?
@mayintoronto I don't think any stores in Canada are unionized. Canadian workers are probably worse off.
I would definitely honour any pickets or support any efforts by Canadian workers to unionize.
Without pickets, I end up with a choice about shopping at Costco vs. alternatives. Some Loblaws are unionized. Walmart is not. Both W and L are notoriously evil, full of dishonest business practices beyond anti-labour practices.
Food rentiers are all evil, but I do have to eat at some point.
Information on grocery stores and unionization in Canada
https://ufcw.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33088&Itemid=2527&lang=en
@mayintoronto Oh, fudge, I hadn't heard about that. When the news about them standing up for DEI came out, I immediately thought about the fact that I knew they were (mostly) unionized & that these things go together!
But you lose your "good company" points for having a unionized workforce if you interfere with union communications & otherwise don't negotiate with them in good faith.
@AmeliaBR Unfortunately, less than 10% of US Costco employees are unionized. :( There was a store that unionized last year and it was the first store that did so in 2 decades.
@mayintoronto 
Are the Canadian numbers very different? Or maybe I was just mis-remembering, hearing people talk about how they have good wages & benefits compared to similar retailers, & I assumed that included unionization.
But either way: megacorps are megacorps, any where and any when.
@AmeliaBR I'm not familiar with the retail labour working conditions. I've been told it's pretty good to work for Costco here despite retail.
But it's still a megacorp.