House passes bill to speed first contracts for Costco workers

The House passage of the Faster Labor Contracts Act could shrink the gap between winning a union vote and winning a first contract for Costco workers. Under the bill, employers would have to bargain within 10 days of a union vote, shift to mediation after 90 days without agreement and could face arbitration if talks still stalled.

For Costco Teamsters, that change goes straight to the issues that shape a shift on the warehouse floor: wages, scheduling, discipline and safety language. The Teamsters said workers now wait an average of 458 days for first-contract bargaining to conclude, a stretch that can drain momentum and leave newly organized employees stuck in limbo while management keeps more leverage simply by running out the clock.

The bill moved through the House on June 9 with bipartisan support after a discharge petition led by Rep. Donald Norcross of New Jersey reached the 218 signatures needed to force a vote. Congress.gov identifies H.R. 5408 as a measure to accelerate workplace time-to-contract under the National Labor Relations Act. Teamsters leaders are pitching it as a major labor-law shift, especially for workers trying to turn an organizing win into enforceable contract language.

That matters at Costco because the company already sits near the center of retail labor debates. The Teamsters ratified Costco’s first-ever national contract in October 2022, covering more than 18,000 workers across California, Washington, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and New York. Reuters reported that the vote passed with 72% approval. In early 2025, Costco and the Teamsters reached a tentative agreement just before a possible strike, underscoring how much leverage can turn on the pace of bargaining.

Costco’s pay scale also helps explain why those negotiations matter beyond union shops. The company’s 2025 annual report said it raised starting pay by 50 cents to at least $20 an hour in the U.S. and Canada, lifted the top of the wage scales by $1 an hour and said the average hourly rate for U.S. workers at the end of 2025 was about $32. That high-wage model is part of Costco’s brand, but for workers on the floor it is also a reminder that the next contract can shape whether those gains keep moving or plateau while talks drag on.