When Leadership Tries to Get Ahead of a Union Movement (Insider Comms From Costco)

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A couple of months ago in Poppulo’s annual prediction article, I forecast momentum behind the small-ish but vocal union efforts in the U.S. gathering steam across industries this year. (If you think unionization is an issue reserved for Fortune 500 companies, think again.)

I wrote:

Union successes in 2023 at spotlight-grabbing companies like Amazon, Starbucks, UPS, and the Big Three auto companies will fan the flames of unionization across the United States next year.

Communication professionals at companies large and small should not sit on the sidelines. Preparing communications strategies to counter potential unionization efforts will secure your seat at the table, should you hear the calls for a union vote.

• Continue reading on Poppulo’s blog.

As with any crisis comms effort, it’s better to be over-prepared (🔒) than to be caught flat-footed.

That’s why I’m sharing this memo from Costco’s leadership, which attempts to get ahead of union efforts after one of its stores recently voted to unionize. There is much to learn from the note—what’s good and what’s lacking.

• For those outside the U.S., Costco operates a chain of member-only big-box warehouse stores. It is the third-largest retailer in the world (by revenue).

• Insider Comms (🔒), by the way, is a series that shows how other corporate comms professionals communicate with their audiences—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Read internal memos from Amazon to YouTube and myriad companies in between. Examples are added frequently.

What do I like about the Costco memo? Plenty.

• It’s short, just 200 words. The memo is co-signed by the (now former) CEO and the (now current) CEO.

• The note opens with an acknowledgment of the recent union vote. That is, they’re not hiding from the news.

• It has a folksy-aww-shucks tone that rings authentic. (It’s not a smooth corporate memo.)

• The leaders don’t attack the employees who voted to unionize. Instead, they blame themselves for letting employees down. This is a bit of a spin move, but it’s effective. The memo doesn’t put the reader (employee) on the defensive.

• They reinforce core values and the parts of the culture that make the company great.

• The memo came out at least a week after the union vote, which meant it wasn’t reactionary.

What’s lacking? Here are four areas where the memo falls short alongside potential remedies: