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[edit] Criticism

[edit] Human Rights Violations

• In 2003, the citizens coalition of the Frente Cvico Pro Defensa del Casino de la Selva, in Cuernavaca Morelos, Mexico, Canadian Committee to Combat Crimes against Humanity (CCCCH) in Canada and Social Choice for Social Change: Campaign for a New TIAA-CREF in the United States and Mexico Solidarity Network, alleged that Costco contractors destroyed murals representative of Mexican culture, a 3000 year old Olmec site and millions of cubic meters of biotic space with centenary trees when they demolished a hotel to build a huge warehouse store and paved the wooded surroundings with a vast parking lot. The coalition demanded justice for the perceived destruction of the area's cultural, historic, and environmental heritage perpetrated by Costco and its partner Comercial Mexicana.The company's private security police were also indicted by a Mexican Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International for using excessive force against peaceful demonstrators who protested against the construction in 2001. Source: CorpWatch- July 9, 2003

[edit] Worker's Rights Violations

• In March 2002, workers on Los Alamos Plantation in El Salvador (the supplier of Bonita bananas for many large North American grocery chains), attempted to unionize. The owner of Los Alamos, Mr. Noboa, responded by firing 120 people. In May 2002, violence broke out on Los Álamos Plantation when workers protested against poor wages and working conditions by occupying part of the hacienda. According to workers’ accounts, shots were fired, two people were wounded, and they were forced off plantation grounds by guards. The next afternoon, when workers gathered at the gate, the guards allegedly wounded seven more workers and a policeman. After the confrontation at Los Álamos, the U.S./Labor Education in the Americas Project, began pressing Costco, a distributor of Bonita bananas, to urge Mr. Noboa to improve labor conditions on Los Alamos. Source: The New York Times, July 13, 2002

• In September 2003, Costco warned California employees that workers’ compensation costs may force the company to relocate its packaging and distribution centers to neighboring states and resort to shipping everything to California. Costco has about 29,000 employees in California, roughly one-third of the company’s United States’ work force. Source: The Press Enterprise Company, September 17, 2003

[edit] Environmental Concerns

• In October 2003, Costco began construction on a 148,665-square-foot wholesale store, tire center, gas station and parking lot on the Clark County Wetlands. Initially, almost 11 acres of the Costco’s prospective building site were categorized as wetlands and therefore entitled to federal protection. According to The Columbian, a Vancouver publication, a controversial Supreme Court ruling over the prairie potholes in the Upper Midwest Cost, which stated the Clean Water Act does not apply to “isolated wetlands,” or those wetlands not connected to navigable waters, led the Corps to conclude it lacks the jurisdiction to preclude development. Under the Clean Air Act, the Army Corps of Engineers has been given the right to approve permits to fill wetlands. Based upon the aforementioned supreme court ruling, the Corps granted Costco permission to begin construction on the Clark County Wetlands site and the company began building a discount store and parking lot on top of the Clark County wetlands, which hold and filter storm water and provide a transportation corridor for some 100 species of birds, mammals and other animals. Source: The Columbian, Vancouver, WA, October 8, 2003

• In January 2004, Christian Brothers Investment Services urged Costco shareholders to demand that the company publicly disclose its land procurement policies at the annual shareholders meeting. Costco has previously lacked a stated policy for land procurement and use. Its practices in such locations as Cuernavaca, Mexico, Cypress, Ca. and other sites in the U.S. have led to the criticism of social, human rights and environmental groups. (see related items) Source: PR Newswire, January 7, 2004

[edit] Animal Welfare

• According to PETA, Costco’s policy for the treatment of animals raised for food offers no protection for animals, and refuses to meet standards set by McDonald’s, which require suppliers to meet basic animal welfare requirements. Source: PETA

[edit] Praise

• At Costco’s annual shareholders meeting in January 2004, Christian Brothers Investment Services and other concerned Costco shareholders won a preliminary proxy vote for a first-year resolution that asks Costco to develop a policy for the selection and acquisition of store sites. The resolution would require Costco's board of directors to develop a policy that considers and incorporates social and environmental factors in store site selection process. The deadline for developing this policy was set for July 1, 2004. (see related alert item) Source: PR Newswire, January 29, 2004

• Costco has a non-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation. Source: Human Rights Campaign

• Since 1998, Costco has offered domestic partner health benefits to employees' domestic partners of the same and opposite sex. Source: Human Rights Campaign

• Costco achieved a score of 93 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign 2008 Corporate Equality Index which rates large corporations on policies that affect their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors. Source: Human Rights Campaign (http://www.hrc.org/buyersguide)