While many U.S. corporations have pushed against the idea of their workers’ unionizing, wholesale retail chain Costco is proving no price can be put on employee satisfaction.
Following a vote in one of the company’s Norfolk, Virginia, stores, 238 Costco staffers are set to join the Teamsters union.
In response to the unionization, Costco’s former CEO Craig Jelinek and current CEO Ron Vachris sent a company-wide memo saying that they were “not disappointed in our employees; we’re disappointed in ourselves as managers and leaders.”
As unionization efforts continue to pick up speed across the United States, it remains to be seen if other corporate leaders take a page from Jelinek and Vachris’ employee-first book.