Costco to increase pay for most hourly employees to over $30 an hour

[CRAIG NIGRELLI]

COSTCO IS INCREASING PAY FOR MOST OF ITS HOURLY AMERICAN WORKERS TO MORE THAN 30 DOLLARS AN HOUR, ACCORDING TO A MEMO SENT TO EMPLOYEES THIS WEEK AND OBTAINED BY MULTIPLE MEDIA OUTLETS.

THE MEMO REPORTEDLY STATES, THE COMPANY WILL INCREASE HOURLY PAY FOR ITS TOP OF THE SCALE EMPLOYEES, WHICH REPRESENTS MORE THAN HALF OF ITS U-S WORKFORCE, OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS.

THE PAY WILL RISE BY ONE DOLLAR TO 30 DOLLARS AND 20 CENTS IN THE FIRST YEAR AND AN ADDITIONAL ONE DOLLAR EACH OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS.

WORKERS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAY SCALE WILL GET RAISES OF 50 CENTS TO 20 DOLLARS AN HOUR, ACCORDING TO THE REPORTED MEMO.

THE CHANGES ALSO APPLY TO NON-UNION EMPLOYEES.

COSTCO AND THE UNION REPRESENTING THOUSANDS OF WORKERS ARE IN NEGOTIATIONS OVER A NEW COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT.

THE CURRENT CONTRACT EXPIRES FRIDAY AND COSTCO TEAMSTERS, WHICH REPRESENTS SLIGHTLY LESS THAN 10 PERCENT OF THE COMPANY’S ROUGHLY 219-THOUSAND EMPLOYEES NATIONWIDE VOTED TO AUTHORIZE A STRIKE FOR BETTER PAY AND BENEFITS.

WITH 85 PERCENT OF UNION MEMBERS VOTING TO IN FAVOR OF THE STRIKE EARLIER THIS MONTH.

A SPOKESPERSON FOR COSTCO TEAMSTERS SAID IN AN EMAIL TO BLOOMBERG, THE UNION IS HAPPY WORKERS WILL BE MAKING HIGHER WAGES AND ATTRIBUTED PRESSURE FROM UNION WORKERS TO COSTCO’S DECISION.

COSTCO SAID IN A STATEMENT, WITH THE PAY INCREASES AND ITS BENEFITS, IT CONTINUES “TO FAR OUT PACE OTHERS IN THE RETAIL INDUSTRY.”

U-S RETAILERS HAVE BEEN INCREASING PAY AND BENEFITS FOR HOURLY EMPLOYEES IN RECENT YEARS IN AN EFFORT TO RECRUIT AND RETAIN EMPLOYEES IN AN INDUSTRY LINKED TO LOW PAY AND HECTIC SCHEDULES.

A STUDY BY BUSINESS CONSULTING FIRM MCKINSEY AND COMPANY IN 2022 FOUND RETAIL WORKERS QUIT RATE IS MORE THAN 70 PERCENT HIGHER THAN OTHER INDUSTRIES IN THE U-S.

HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF THE HIGHER WAGES AND BENEFITS COSTCO OFFERS IT HAS A LOW RATE OF EMPLOYEE TURNOVER, ACCORDING TO BLOOMBERG.

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