General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCancelled my Sams Club membership and opened one with Costcos in support of their unionized workers
Walmart is part of Sams Club and since Costco has unionized workers and pays them well with benefits I feel it's time I started doing my part and start shopping with them to show my support. Only wish I had done this earlier.
Someone questioned if their unionized ...here's a link to the Teamsters saying some are http://www.teamster.org/content/costco-workers-stand-together
They may not all be unionized but at least they pay their workers well with benefits and treat their workers fairly.
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,089 posts)IMHO
otherone
(973 posts)not sure..
kick
for the answer
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)come primarily from Teamsters that were part of Price club that merged with Costco in 1993.
http://www.teamster.org/content/costco-workers-stand-together
demosincebirth
(12,541 posts)JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)they give healthcare for full and part-time employees and the CEO only takes $350,000/yr salary (doesn't include stock). Not all Costco workers are unionized but those that are make $17/hr+ and receive healthcare & pension.
jn2375
(910 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)Sadiedog
(353 posts)It is too bad that so many CEO`s think that they are worth soooooo much more than their work force.
myrna minx
(22,772 posts)jn2375
(910 posts)cilla4progress
(24,750 posts)Had two - count 'em TWO - mini-quiches tonight!
Kingofalldems
(38,464 posts)I think Biden's visit today was a big show of support to companies who treat workers fairly.
msongs
(67,421 posts)Kingofalldems
(38,464 posts)sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)employees there how they liked the company. I asked because I had read so many good things about them and I wanted to find out if the workers agreed. The first person was a woman and I asked her how she liked working there. She said she loved it, that she was being paid $17.00 an hour and had full benefits. She also said the management was great and treated the workers very well.
The second employee was an older man who was checking people out at the door. I asked him the same questions. He said he was retired and only worked part time but was paid about $17.00 an hour and even though he only worked part time, he had health coverage. He said he loved his job. He also said his wife worked there also, full time and she too had HC coverage and was very happy working there.
So I think those rates are probably accurate.
99Forever
(14,524 posts)Costco is a far superior place to shop. Sam's Club, like Wallyworld, sells second rate crap products. Costco has quality, top of the line name brands, excellent employees and stands behind everything they sell.
And yes, to the person that asked, Costco is indeed Union.
WinniSkipper
(363 posts)From Wiki
While some former Price Club locations in California and the northeastern United States are staffed by Teamsters,[59] the majority of Costco locations are not unionized although there seems to be a move in 2012 to unionize some locations in Canada.[60] The non-union locations have revisions to their Costco Employee Agreement every three years concurrent with union contract ratifications in locations with collective bargaining agreements
hlthe2b
(102,311 posts)My sister put me on her Sam's card, so, I can't deny going there occasionally and the one near me is actually quite nice compared to the ones I'd been in elsewherre.
But, I definitely prefer Costco for nearly everything.
lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)renate
(13,776 posts)My favorite thing about Costco (aside from the way they treat their employees, and their generous return policy) is that they really work hard to bring their customers value for money. The selection isn't huge for a lot of items like ketchup or cottage cheese or whatever, but when you buy from Costco you know that someone else has already done a lot of the quality control and price comparison for you. If Costco sells an item I'm looking for, I don't usually bother with comparison shopping.
Have fun! And clean out your trunk before you go, because you're going to need the room!
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)If fair wages were paid, unions would not be necessary. That's kind of the point.
csziggy
(34,136 posts)I'd already let my Sam's Club membership lapse since I just wasn't going there. I don't shop Costco often, but I save enough on my allergy medication to pay for my yearly membership.
NMDemDist2
(49,313 posts)amazing!
glinda
(14,807 posts)trublu992
(489 posts)for making choice that benefits more than yourself. Our money has so much power
nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)chillfactor
(7,577 posts)and the Tony Romo BBQ ribs......they are the greatest!
demosincebirth
(12,541 posts)karmaqueen
(714 posts)When we found out how well the workers were paid and treated. The store is much better run than Sam's. The workers are much more friendly... maybe because they are treated fairly.
putitinD
(1,551 posts)TeamsterDem
(1,173 posts)We don't represent all of Costco's shipping and warehouse personnel, but we do represent a lot of them and are always looking forward to the opportunity to represent more of them should they want us to. We'd love to represent Sam's Club workers as well but with the way Wal-Mart fights unionization drives we really don't have much of a shot unless workers begin to see themselves in a collective struggle against the Wal-Mart style race to the bottom.
The main difference (in terms of labor relations) between Sam's and Costco is that the latter sees money as better spent on wages and benefits as opposed to anti-union consultants and of course market backlash, whereas the former has some sort of an "over my dead body" stance against any unionization. I guess I'm saying that their opposition seems out of balance to the "threat" posed by unionization: from the numbers (estimates) I've seen it would appear that Wal-Mart would stand to lose very little even presuming full unionization of all of its inside personnel (the bulk of employment), yet they spend an inordinate amount on anti-union "education" and legal battles which don't seem to match even the loftiest of expectations regarding unionization levels.
Remember that even if someone could wave a magic wand and have ALL of Wal-Mart's workers magically unionized that alone wouldn't cost Wal-Mart anything, as wages and benefits would then be negotiated between the parties. Wal-Mart would very likely give a few concessions on pay and benefits, but they have a strong negotiating position as well, and would most likely wind up paying very little extra - and would save money in other areas by not requiring Jackson-Lewis's services. I'm not sure it'd be a wash, but the profit hit would be slight and may be recoverable as employees spent their earnings locally, thus encouraging more Wal-Mart shopping as the money gets spread around.
There's a weird bell-shaped curve that - if you can just imagine a bell curve - more or less predicts both how many concessions a union can extract AND what the potential profit hit will be to a company upon contract agreement: basically the smallest companies lie on the far left-hand side of the curve (too small from which to extract many demands owing to revenue issues), and the enormous companies like Wal-Mart lie on the other end, too vastly powerful for the union to bargain with in terms of striking some form of equilibrium of power. So any CNBC talking head who suggests that unionization would damage Wal-Mart's profits is either knowingly lying or woefully ignorant of just how union contract negotiations typically pan out, as the days of mass strikes (successful ones, especially) are long gone, thus the union's bargaining power is vastly diminished.
I didn't mean to ramble, there. Thanks again for supporting unionized workers, we all thank you!!!