The following is a statement from the Costco Workers Rank-and-File Committee, formed this weekend to oppose a sellout contract by the Teamsters union. To join, fill out the form below or by emailing TeamstersRFC@gmail.com.
An informational flyer on the contract by the Committee can be accessed here.
Fellow Costco Workers,
The betrayal of our strike by the Teamsters leadership is a stark warning to all workers: if we are to fight for our interests, we must do so independently. The Teamsters bureaucracy, under the leadership of Sean O’Brien, has once again shown that it serves the interests of corporate management and the political establishment, not the workers who pay their dues.
On February 1, 2025, 18,000 Costco workers were prepared to launch the largest strike of the new year. We were ready to fight for higher wages, better working conditions, paid family leave, fair scheduling, and an end to the company’s draconian surveillance policies. Instead, in a backroom deal negotiated in the dead of night, O’Brien and the Teamsters announced a sellout tentative agreement designed to smother our struggle before it began.
Costco has raked in over $250 billion in revenue in 2024 alone, with a net profit of $7.3 billion. Its CEO, Ron Vachris, was paid $12.2 million while many of us are expected to survive on $19.50 an hour in grueling conditions, with unpredictable schedules, little time for breaks, and constant understaffing. Meanwhile, the contract we are being forced to accept offers only token raises—insulting, inadequate and utterly unacceptable. The tentative agreement proposed by the Teamsters bureaucracy is an insult to workers and their families.
The paltry $1 per hour wage increase proposed in the tentative agreement is nothing more than a kick in the teeth, failing to keep pace with the rising cost of living. Additionally, the so-called “labor peace agreement” provision is a naked attempt to further erode the power of collective action, ensuring that workers remain powerless and isolated while the bureaucracy secures its own position as it sells out our existence.
The Costco Workers Rank-and-File Committee (CWRFC) is being established to take the fight into our own hands. We refuse to allow the Teamsters or any other corporate-controlled union bureaucracy to negotiate away our futures. The union leadership is an extension of the ruling class, deeply tied to both the Democratic and Republican parties, including the fascistic forces gathering under Trump.
The Teamsters’ ties to the corporate state
Sean O’Brien postures as a militant fighter, but his record speaks for itself. His betrayal of UPS workers in 2023 paved the way for mass layoffs and automation, and now he is doing the same to Costco workers. O’Brien has courted Trump and his fascist allies, including Senator Josh Hawley, who aided in the attempted coup of January 6 and was O’Brien’s guest on his podcast. This alliance is not accidental—it reflects the broader shift of the union bureaucracies toward nationalism, anti-immigrant scapegoating, and collaboration with the forces of dictatorship.
By aligning with Trump, O’Brien and the union apparatus demonstrate their hostility to immigrant workers, who make up a significant portion of Costco’s workforce. Trump’s agenda includes mass deportations, workplace raids and stripping immigrants of basic rights—all with the full backing of both big business parties. Los Angeles is the next target.
The Costco Workers Rank-and-File Committee stands unequivocally for the unity of all workers, regardless of nationality, color, gender or immigration status. We will not allow our struggle to be divided along the lines of race, nationality, or citizenship.
The way forward: rank-and-file control
The Teamsters have made clear that they will do everything in their power to isolate and sabotage our struggle. We must therefore take the fight out of their hands and build a mass movement independent of the union bureaucracy and both corporate-controlled parties.
We reject the sellout tentative agreement. Instead, we put forward the following demands, based not on what the corporations or their union stooges claim is “affordable,” but on what workers need to live a dignified life:
A $10 per hour across-the-board wage increase over three years for all workers, with automatic cost-of-living adjustments tied to inflation.
A 40-hour workweek with guaranteed full-time positions for all workers who want them, with no forced part-time or precarious scheduling.
Comprehensive healthcare fully paid by Costco, including vision, dental, and mental health services.
Paid family leave and bereavement policies that reflect the real needs of workers.
An immediate end to all workplace surveillance and punitive management practices.
A democratically elected bargaining committee fully controlled by rank-and-file workers, not union bureaucrats or management representatives.
A strike fund controlled by rank-and-file workers to prepare for the next battle if Costco refuses to meet our demands.
Unite with workers across industries!
Costco workers are not alone. Grocery and retail workers across the country—at King Soopers, Kroger, Albertson, Amazon and beyond—are facing the same conditions of low wages, corporate exploitation and union betrayals. The ruling class and its politicians are coordinating their attacks on the working class—we must coordinate our resistance.
The Teamsters and other unions will try to isolate our struggle, just as they have done to workers at UPS, the railroads and beyond. We must actively reach out and build alliances with workers across industries to prepare a broader fightback.
The fight against fascism and corporate dictatorship
The Trump administration represents the interests of a tiny oligarchy of billionaires. It poses a grave threat to the entire working class, especially our immigrant brothers and sisters. His plans for mass deportations and authoritarian rule are being prepared in full collaboration with sections of the trade union bureaucracy, including O’Brien. If we do not take independent action, the danger of dictatorship will only grow well beyond deportations. The fight for better wages and working conditions is inseparable from the fight to defend democratic rights.
Join the Costco Workers Rank-and-File Committee!
The Teamsters will not fight for us. The Democrats and Republicans will not fight for us. We must fight for ourselves. That is why we are building the Costco Workers Rank-and-File Committee—to unite workers in a real struggle against corporate exploitation, union betrayals, and the broader assault on workers’ rights and living standards.
If you agree with this, we urge you to contact us. Help us build a powerful rank-and-file movement, independent of the Teamsters and the political establishment, to take this fight forward.
We refuse to accept a future of poverty wages, corporate domination, dictatorship and union betrayals. We refuse to let our immigrant brothers and sisters be scapegoated and attacked. We refuse to be divided by the nationalist poison peddled by O’Brien and his fascist allies.
The time to fight back is now. Join us!