First contract links drivers with Costco Teamsters National Master Agreement negotiations, securing major bargaining power while locking in crucial gains immediately

A group of 150 Costco Depot drivers represented by Local 174 voted by nearly 97% to ratify a first contract this past weekend, averting a strike. This first Agreement is unusual in that it only lasts for a few months, expiring at the end of January 2025 – but this was entirely intentional, as it allows the new contract to expire at the same time as the Costco Teamsters National Master Agreement. By lining up the expiration dates, they combine bargaining power with the over 18,000 Costco Teamsters already covered by the National Agreement, which ensures greater leverage at the negotiating table.

This first contract locks in many details already in practice at Costco, and makes dramatic changes that will affect drivers’ daily lives in major ways. Foremost on the list was the addition of the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Plan, which will move workers from the uncertainty of a 401(k) into the reliable predictability of the number one performing private sector defined benefit pension plan in existence today – a plan which will take past years of service into account when calculating workers’ future benefits.

“This contract victory is a rare shining example of how Unions can raise up workers through past, present, and future,” said Teamsters Local 174 Secretary-Treasurer Rick Hicks. “The Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Plan rewards their past years of service to their Company, newly negotiated contract language protects their present conditions, and the combined bargaining power of all Costco Teamsters across the country bearing down on Costco at the same time ensures a brighter future. This first contract may only last a few months, but there is no expiration date on the power these new Costco members of Teamsters Local 174 will wield in the fight for their future.”

“This group showed solidarity beyond what anyone could expect from a new group negotiating a first contract, and that is what got us to where we are,” Hicks continued. “The entire Costco Teamsters National Master Agreement will benefit from having these 150 hardened Teamsters joining the fight. We welcome them to the Teamsters Union, which we firmly believe is the greatest Union in the world.”

Founded in 1909, Teamsters Local 174 represents 8,400 working men and women in the Seattle area. “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TeamstersLocal174.