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Costco to raise base pay for workers from $15 to $16 an hour, Internet says retail company 'leads by example'

The decision by the company, based in Issaquah, Washington, came as Democrats in Congress, led by Bernie Sanders, demanded a $15 federal minimum pay

Costco announced that it would hike its base wage for its employees from $15 to $16 an hour on Thursday, February 25. The retail company, which has nearly 180,000 US workers, has put its base wage above rivals like Target, Best Buy and Amazon. At a US Senate Budget Committee hearing chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders on worker pay at large companies, Costco’s chief executive Craig Jelinek said the new pay will be applied starting next week.

“This isn’t altruism. At Costco, we know that paying employees good wages and providing affordable benefits makes sense for our business and constitutes a significant competitive advantage for us,” he added.

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The decision by the company, based in Issaquah, Washington, came as Democrats in Congress, led by Bernie Sanders, demanded a $15 federal minimum pay. In January, Sanders introduced a bill to increase the base wage to $15 by 2025. The 79-year-old received support from President Joe Biden.

Meanwhile, Costco, in the last few years, has raised the pay at regular intervals. In 2018, it hiked it to $14 and $15 in 2019. The company claimed that 20% of its hourly employees get the base pay. Not just that, after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March, Costco gave its workers an extra $2 an hour in hazard pay.

The move taken by Costco has been heartily welcomed by its customers. One user posted online, “Everyone shop at Costco!  You can order online and have it delivered.” Another customer tweeted, “COSTCO has raised the minimum wage of its 180,000 workers to $16/hr, effective next week. SIXTEEN DOLLARS. I will continue happily shopping there forever.”

A user commented, “My brother works for costco corporate and has for almost 25 years. They take care of their workers — recently gave him a 20% pay bump to make sure he was up to industry average. And the CEO once kicked someone out of a meeting for suggesting they raise the price the $1.50 hot dog.”

“Good to know about Costco's minimum pay. I'm all for raising the national minimum wage, too. So what if we have to pay a bit more. There will be more buyers bc that wage will hit all of the economy right away,” a user wrote.

Another mentioned, “Costco is a company of integrity - they look after their employees, their customers and are driven by value and quality. They lead by example!” “Costco has been paying well for quite sometime I believe and continues to be an example that you can pay your people living wages and still doing great,” one user noted.

However, there were some who think Costco exploits their employees as a user tweeted, “Except that one time when I worked there and asked my supervisor if I could take a break because I was feeling sick after my lunch break and she yelled out in front of 15 customers, 'Are you pregnant?' Management did nothing with that violation of medical privacy.”

Another added: “That’s great but I have a number of friends who used to work for Costco and they treat their employees like shit! Paying someone well and yet forcing them to work in unsafe conditions is not great for our country or our people.”