Costco Gives Employees Another Raise

[sandnsea]

The local grocery union has just entered into negotiations. They make barely over minimum wage and because Oregon has automatic minimum wage increases, it's harder to get union wage benefits reflected in the contract. A grocery union in the northeast just got their contract, they'll get $25 a week this year, then $20 next year and the year after. Local checkers thought that sounded pretty good.

Then I ran across this. Hmmm.

"When the raises kicked in March 8, scale for service assistants, such as parking lot attendants, was bumped up to a range between $11 and $18.30 an hour from the $10 to $17.50 previously paid. For service clerks, including cashiers, the scale range increased to between $11.50 and $20 an hour compared with $10.50 to $19.17 before.

At the top of the scale, which typically takes about four and a half years, employees will receive an "extra check" of at least $2,200 every six months.

The last time Costco raised entry-level wages was six years ago. "We always want a wide gap between us and the competition," Coscto's CFO Richard Galanti told the Seattle Post Intelligencer. "It shows in the quality of our employees...It's what our founders want to do in paying a family wage."

http://www.retailwire.com/Discussions/Sngl_Discussion.cfm/12045

[texpatriot2004]

1. CostCo is a good company nm

[tandot]

2. we love Costco. I always laugh when I see cars with a Bush bumper sticker

in the parking lot. I bet they don't know that their money is supporting a company that takes care of their employees and supports Democrats.

[Clark2008]

3. Geez... I wish there was a Costco near me.

They make more an hour than I do in a sales position!

[cascadiance]

4. I'm so glad I'm not worried about crossing picket lines this time!...

Since I'm already doing my grocery shopping at Trader Joes and Costco anyway!

I'll just now be able to spend more time helping stand in their picket lines with them! :)

I also love wearing my Chinamart t-shirt in there too! :)

[toadzilla]

5. I love costco!

they have excellent produce!

[tandot]

6. We bought the 5-pack of Romain Lettuce 3 weeks ago and it is still crisp

They also have that 6-pack of mixed peppers that stays crisp for a long time. Their produce is excellent

[Nevernose]

7. It's overpriced and over-packaged

But every piece of fruit is absolutely freaking PERFECT, ain't it?

[toadzilla]

14. i thought the prices were pretty decent

maybe i dont shop around enough, or maybe produce is just generally more expensive in the dc area. :shrug:

[mike6640]

28. Fujis! n/t

[tinrobot]

8. I always try to buy gas at Costco

Petroleum of any kind is a necessary evil, but if I buy at Costco, at least a portion of the money goes to a good company.

[Poll_Blind]

9. I don't have a single bad thing to say about Costco, except...

...oy the parking lot is murder to get into and out of. Other than that, no complaints. Good company from everything I've heard/experienced.

PB

[fortyfeetunder]

19. Don't know when you shop at Costco

but my experience has been best
weekday evenings
days when there are major sports events. (Figure I can do some heavy duty Costco shopping during March madness)

Costco :loveya:

[AnnieBW]

10. Cha-Ching!

There goes my Costco stock! I'm loving it!

I figure that I give them so much of my money that I might as well own stock in the company. Especially because they do cool things like that! :yourock:

Oh, and their steaks and baked goods are TO DIE FOR.

[blue neen]

11. The closest Costco is an hour away.

It's still worth the drive. Costco actually makes grocery shopping enjoyable. :)

[karlrschneider]

12. The closest one to our house is 3 hours. By airplane.

I shit you not. :grr:

[Clark2008]

13. Our closest one is four hours by car...

Needless to say, I've never been there.

:(

[karlrschneider]

17. This is Wally World land. About 100 miles from Bentonville.

As much as I hate to admit, I do shop in their local 'superstore'...because the next closest grocery store is a 54 mile trip. :grr:

[Hawkeye-X]

23. Uh. 3 hours from OK to Denver?

Are you shitting me?

[Vadem]

29. Here you go, Karl, and everyone else not near a Costco...

http://www.costco.com/Home.aspx


:hi:

[Lugnut]

18. I'm in the same situation

The closest Costco to me is almost 2 hours away. :(

[MedleyMisty]

15. Whoa

That's a lot of money.

I don't know if there are any Costcos around here. Eh - the top of the scale may be double what I make, but I like my little stress-free job.

[mucifer]

16. They don't waste money on advertisement. They use it for wages.

Has anyone seen a Costco ad... you won't.

[JI7]

22. my parents get Costco ads in the mail

but that could be because they have membership. also they have people go places to try to get others to sign up for membership. i don't know if they do this through some outside company or if it's their own employees who do it. i think it might be their own employees that also work in the store.

i'm going to get my own membership soon.

[madokie]

27. a good gauge of what a company or product is is the amount of advertisments

or rather lack of. Sure wish we had a costco anywhere close to us, they would get all of our business.

[Egalitarian]

20. I can admit that they are better than their "competition", but

I still don't care to have one in my town. Only 10 years ago we had almost zero box stores and in that short period of time we now have almost all of them including our second, bigger and better Costco(the first smaller one sits vacant I think).

Maybe I'm overly sensitive, but IMO the supersize shopping carts just typify our over consumptive ways. Yes, I'm happy that Costco pays their employees well and I think more employers should follow suit. I question though the net effect of any box store on a local economy, regardless of the savings at the retail level.

How many employees are required at a costco or other box store to sell a given amount of product? I don't have figures, but I'm certain that they are more efficient than the mom and pop stores they are impacting in my area. Thus, they actually cost jobs relative to the business model they are replacing. Further, the profits from their business leave our local economy and are transferred to shareholders (who by and large don't live in my formally rural valley).

Perhaps I am also partially jaded since I grew up with a father that regularly made mindless purchases at some of the first wholesale clubs in Atlanta during the 80's. The few times I've been in our local costco I still see this same mentality at play and granted it's not wholly costco's fault. Many of us seem pre-wired to indulge in purchases that we perceive to be good deals, but we don't wholly need. Congrats to those that are able to mosltly limit their purchases at constco to things they need. The danger though is that you walk through the isles and see the "thingamajiggy" that used to cost $400 is now only $199. Wow, what a deal I can afford it now! Apparently, even with increased efficiency most americans can't afford it though as is reflected in our negative savings rate.

To me, Walmart is Neo-con (George W.) and Costco is DLC(Hillary). I can't cheer for reform. I want a revolution.




In summary, to me while constco is the best of the corporate, box store business model, that doesn't mean that the other community level problems created by this model disappear.

[sandnsea]

21. Actually I'm comparing unions & wages

Not advocating big box stores, and especially not excessive consumerism. But we're always going to have chain grocery stores. We've had them since I can remember and they had a lot of the same ones when my mom was a kid too. Anyway, they just keep coming up with an array of excuses not to pay, and yet Costco pays and is profitable. They just aren't giving the profit to the shareholders is all.

I probably said it better in my blog, after I posted the link above.

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/

[Egalitarian]

24. Understood and I applaud them for their leadership in employee wages,

But I still see second, third, ect. order consequeces to their model.

I'm also assuming that negotiations(and hence working conditions/wages) with the manufactures, etc. of the products found within a Costco are comparable to their competition (super Walmarts?). I suspect that we hear the good side of their model (low prices, higher wages), but local economic impacts and producer impacts are largely the same. I see a catch-22 that tastes better. Perhaps I'm wrong though?

[and-justice-for-all]

25. We dont have a CostCo...

...All we have is Satan aka Wal-Mart.

[mucifer]

26. another Costco fact the owner doesn't make crazy high wages.

The owner makes 550,000 per year in wages and bonuses plus he owns lots of stock in Costco. Yeah, that's a lot of money, but compared to the walton family that owns walmart, that's nothing.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/BTC/walmart072905.cfm