Costco: Schwarzenegger's politicking banned outside stores

[kskiska]

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Costco forbids political solicitations in front of its stores - even the selling of Girl Scout cookies.

So officials of the discount retail chain said it was a mistake for managers at the Burbank and Sacramento stores to allow Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to collect petition signatures this week for his campaign to reform the state workers' compensation system.

"All of this activity by Schwarzenegger was supposed to be inside," Karen Raines, Costco's corporate counsel, said.

She said the company will allow a group opposing the governor's reform to speak for 30 minutes outside the Burbank store. "It's probably a fair thing to do," she said.
For the last six years, Costco has won court battles to restrict political solicitors and charitable groups to do business outside its stores. Even Girl Scout cookies cannot be sold.

more…
http://sacbee.com/state_wire/story/8889610p-9816252c.html

[Robbien]

1. You Rock Costco!

Just one more reason on top of many to love Costco.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. Nice after they COLLECTED signatures INSIDE their stores for the comp

petition to be signed...can't wait til I have a petition I want signed and I go to get it signed INSIDE COSTCO as THEY did with the comp petitions and they deny me...it ought to be a REALLY expensive lawsuit for them. Assholes.

They are only backing off as the Teamsters are giving them SHIT for having their own workers collect signatures inside their stores. They KNOW they will get their asses kicked for the double standard and for PAYING employees for political activites.

[Carni]

4. I really think it was an isolated case of one store

Go look up the company on opensecrets.org unless everything has changed they aren't GOP supporters.

[DoctorMyEyes]

5. I work at a Costco

soley because Costco is alligned with my political and business principles.

It's a big company.

This was so obviously a case of a couple of local managers screwing up. Maybe they were *starstruck*? Maybe they're Republicans. Maybe they're just clueless.

Please don't judge the whole company because of the error made by two managers.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

7. Nope it was done at the beckoning of one of the owners

who while being progressive on many fronts was completely wrong on this one. It was covered in the LA Times and several of their stores were used. They claimed the employees did it voluntarily but when I approached those employees and ASKED them if they KNEW what they were getting patrons to sign, they said they didn't understand. I explained to them that the law they were asking people to sign would reduce THEIR RIGHTS in the event of an injury, force them to prove they were injured (which they do now but the threshold is lower since it impossible for all workplace accidents to be witnessed)

Most of them had NO CLUE what they were doing as I walked around the store and asked every single employee that was doing it. I then called their local union's attorney on my cell phone and by the end of the weekend we found out that it had occurred at numerous stores throughout California over that weekend.

I like COstco too and realize they are Democrats but I think they overstepped and believe they broke the law and violated their union agreements with this one.

[Carni]

11. That's what I thought

Based on what I looked up a couple of years ago.
Glad to hear it confirmed though!

[PassingFair]

13. Ack!

I recently switched from Sam's Club to Costco, because I realized it was tres hypocritical of me to eschew Walmart, but shop at Sam's.
Well, I let my membership lapse and moved to Costco, although it's products are not generally as good (IMHO) as Sam's and it's farther away. So, please, don't tell me any bad news about Costco! I just plain CAN'T AFFORD Kroger's!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

14. I hear ya...and their business practices are head and shoulders above

WalMart and Sam's..hell they were even lambasted by the Wall Street Journal a few weeks back for treating their employees too well. I still think that a private employer paying their employees inside the store to get petitions signed on a state ballot initiative (when every single employee I asked did NOT understand what they were getting signed) is an abomination.

But you are right..we have fewer and fewer choices.

[Carni]

3. Costco didn't give a dime to bush for 2000/selection campaign

I recall researching Costco 3 years ago and the head of the company isn't a GOP type--they also don't screw employees over like Walmart does.

[readmylips]

6. Gropernager was on TV last night....

praising himself for having saved a guy from drowing. I'm a hero, I'm a hero. He went on and on, kissing himself and wanting the guy to kiss his shoes.

[SoCalDem]

8. ""All of this activity by Schwarzenegger was supposed to be inside,"

It's OKAY to do it INSIDE??? That stinks, IN SPADES..

It should not be inside OR outside.. I do not go shopping, to have to run a gauntlet of wild-eyed zealots waving clipboards at me..:grr:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

10. exactly thankyou!

Did they do it out by you too?

[wryter2000]

9. I love them

Time for a Costco fix!

[Emillereid]

12. I was accosted by a Costco worker to sign this petition

at the Westlake, CA store. She beamed and smiled to me that the gropenator was all for it, so wouldn't I please sign. Told her I wouldn't sign anything to even give Gropen-fuhrer the time of day. She seemed shocked that not everyone loved Ahhnold. The Gropenfuhrer gave my husband and I a total of 36 bucks back on the so called car tax ( vehicle license fee), but jacked my daughters tuition fees up by about $3000 so far -- he hasn't finished yet. And in order to keep our school district afloat the voters of the district decided to tack on an extra $200 a year to our property tax bill for four years. All because de Fuhrer refuses to return the higher tax rates to the very rich that were lowered during the good times (Clinton years). No dear -- I don't like Ahhnold.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

15. So did you miss the article a last week in the Times where he conceded

that taxes would probably need to be raised?
This after he:

Promised to investigate himself to determine if he groped anyone after getting elected and hasn't.
Promised to OPEN DA BOOKS which he should have done before he got elected and would have known there were very few places to cut.
Promised to refund the car tax and did to the cost of 4 billion dollars thereby leading to a bond initiative that was MORE than what Davis asked for.
Promised NOT to raise tuition..and then did.

The list is endless.