Costco's Bizarre Reaction To A Recent Store Unionization

It's impossible to deny that unions are experiencing a resurgence in America right now. From the Writer's Guild of America to the United Auto Workers, unions have been notching big wins lately. Purveyors of food are hardly immune to this drive for unionization — plenty of attention has certainly been given to Starbucks employees' attempts to unionize, as well as the company's aggressive response, including allegedly firing workers for union ties. Walmart, the largest private-sector employer in America, has an even more aggressive anti-union track record, with a steady anti-union drumbeat dating back decades. And now, unionization has come for another big box chain: Costco. But the company hasn't responded how you might expect.

In December, Costco workers in Norfolk, Virginia voted to unionize for better pay and working conditions. But instead of doing the typical big corporate thing and lashing out at the union (or just ignoring them, as Starbucks appears to be attempting), Costco went the "We're not mad, just disappointed" dad route, saying the company is "not disappointed in our employees; we're disappointed in ourselves as managers and leaders. The fact that a majority of Norfolk employees felt that they wanted or needed a union constitutes a failure on our part." That's not a quote you would typically see in these situations.

To be clear, Costco isn't congratulating the workers on their win here; there's still an undercurrent of anti-union emotion to this statement. It still implies unions shouldn't be necessary, but only come about when employers don't treat their employees well. The obvious pro-union counterpoint would be that unions exist to make sure employers, even relatively good ones, will keep treating their employees well. That all said, it's still a wildly unusual response compared to how big chains have responded to unionization (or threats of unionization) in recent years.

To be fair, Costco does have an unusual track record in that it's typically been known for treating its employees better than its competitors (which may be a low bar, but still), a fact it notes in its response, saying "our core value of taking care of our employees has never been the result of any union. It's been Costco's Mission Statement ... from the very beginnings of Costco's business." This probably explains why unionization hasn't been as big of a drive in Costco as it has been for a lot of other major chains — there hasn't been a major unionization effort at the chain in two decades.

Given the bizarre response, it remains to be seen how Costco will ultimately deal with the union. Will it bargain fairly and openly, or take the lead some other companies have and engage in underhanded efforts to suppress collective bargaining? Only time will tell.