Breaking REI Union News
Co-op Members Pledge to Reject REI’s Corporate Slate as Board Election Kicks Off
March 3rd, 2025
REI’s Board election kicked off today, and the company announced they didn’t include Tefere Gebre or Shemona Moreno on the ballot. In response, the REI Union held a press conference outside the Seattle Flagship store, where union workers voiced their disappointment over REI’s refusal to nominate our popular pro-climate and pro-worker candidates.
Co-op members nationwide are also shocked by REI’s decision, so they’re using their collective voice this week to vote against REI’s newest round of corporate Board candidates. They’re taking to REI’s online voting platform, voting ‘withhold’ instead of selecting a pre-nominated candidate, and telling REI they’re sick of the direction our Co-op is heading in. Learn how you can take action as a member here.
REI Greensboro WINS Union Election
January 24th, 2025 - via RWDSU: “Tonight, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) announced that workers at the REI Co-op in Greensboro, North Carolina voted to join the RWDSU, making REI Greensboro the eleventh unionized REI store in the country. Greensboro workers proudly unite with green vests organizing under the banner of the REI Union from coast to coast, fighting for fair pay, guaranteed hours, a clear path to full-time status, and transfer opportunities within the company.”
The REI Union is absolutely thrilled to have our coworkers in Greensboro joining our movement. We can’t wait to see what they accomplish with their collective voice as they start negotiating with REI over the changes they need to see at their store. Congratulations Greensboro!
REI Announces the Retirement of CEO & President Eric Artz
January 22nd, 2024 - via Modern Retail: “After 6 years at the helm of REI, the co-op’s president and CEO Eric Artz will retire at the end of March. His successor, Mary Beth Laughton, will take over the role on February 3 and assume full CEO responsibilities by March 31.”
The REI Union is excited to work alongside Mary Beth to build a better Co-op for workers and members alike. We’ll have more to share about this development and what it means for REI workers and members in the coming weeks.
Read the full piece here.
REI lays off 400 workers and eliminates its ‘Experiences’ Division
January 8th, 2024 - via KUOW: “REI is shutting down its classes, tours, and events business, collectively known as Experiences. The outdoor retailer announced the end of Experiences on Wednesday, laying off hundreds of employees in the division.”
“Experiences guide Emily Burchett said REI is missing the bigger picture. She was one of 428 employees laid off - ‘People who take an REI class will spend a certain percentage more at REI than even our REI members,” she said. “And the likelihood of them turning into REI members after taking a class is much higher. So Experiences may not be making the money, but we're bringing the money into the stores.’”
Read the full piece here.
REI workers in Greensboro, NC, file for UNION ELECTION!
December 27th, 2024 - via the REI Union: Today, our coworkers in Greensboro, North Carolina, marched on the boss and demanded recognition of their union! Once these green vests get their election date and vote Union Yes, they’ll join our movement as the 11th unionized REI store.
With their union, our coworkers in Greensboro will be fighting for living wages, consistent schedules, a voice on the job, and many of the other projections and benefits that we’ve been pushing for at REI stores across the country. This is such an empowering way for us to close out 2024, and we can’t wait to see what’s next for REI Greensboro as we ring in the new year!
REI SoHo WALKS OUT ON ULP STRIKE after company refuses to ensure safe working conditions in ski shop
December 6th, 2024 - via Modern Retail: "Eight workers at the Soho location of REI walked off
the job this week, protesting work conditions in the ski repair shop that they say are hazardous to their health.
“The subway-level workshop is the workplace for eight employees who repair and maintain anywhere from a dozen to 35 pairs of skis a day. Their tasks require burning up plastic, melting wax and working with metal grip, and workers say they are worried about the risks to their respiratory systems as they carry out these tasks."
Read the full story at Modern Retail, and support workers at REI SoHo here!
REI Union endorses climate and labor activist Tefere Gebre for the Board of Directors
November 20th, 2024 - via the REI Union: We're thrilled to announce that we're partnering with climate and labor activist Tefere Gebre to bring democracy and Co-op values back to the forefront of REI! Tefere is running to join REI's Board of Directors, and we're standing alongside him as he fights to get his name on the ballot for the election next March.
Tefere's experience as the Chief Program Officer at Greenpeace, USA, and the former Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO empowers him to stand up for the needs of REI workers and members alike. Read more about Tefere's background and goals for REI here!
"REI has hemorrhaged money for two years in a row. Now employees fear its famed outdoor-nerd culture is at risk"
August 19th, 2024 — Via Fortune Magazine: "...There had been discontent brewing among the Green Vests for years. It picked up steam during the pandemic, when unpredictable and chaotic conditions created stress for frontline workers at all kinds of retailers. Tim Spangler, head of retail and a 28-year REI veteran whom many credited with building the strong Green Vest culture, left in 2021. And early the following year, for the first time in REI’s history, workers at one of its stores—the flagship in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood—began the process that led them to unionize as part of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union..."
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REI Union Makes Statement on "Stewarding our Future" Restructuring
August 21st, 2024 — REI recently overhauled scheduling and availability policies at the Co-op, as part of their “Stewarding Our Future” restructuring. With this overhaul, REI is limiting full-time positions, requiring workers to be fully available for many extra days each year, and making it much harder for us to get home during the holidays.
Parts of these new policies reflect what we’ve been demanding at the bargaining table for years, but the vast majority of these changes are half measures that SEVERELY miss the mark on what REI workers are asking for and truly need. Read more of our reflections on how, with this restructuring, REI is ignoring our voices and trying to “Steward our Futures” for us.
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Read more about the rally and our community demands at the Ithaca Times.
Austin REI workers accuse management of union busting and ignoring sexual harassment
August 9th, 2024 — Audrey Goff, a worker REI Austin, recently sat down with Texas standard to discuss the union busting they’ve experienced at their store. In these conversations, we learn that REI has been unfairly disciplining workers who are involved with union activity. We also see how REI ignored workers’ reports of sexual harassment at the Austin store - a new low for the company.
Read the full article on texasstandard.org, and listen to Audrey’s explanation of what’s been happening at their store here.
REI Union Rallies in Ithaca, NY at New Store Opening​
July 1st, 2024 — REI Co-op members and community supporters gathered Saturday, June 29th on the weekend of the grand opening for their new store in Ithaca, New York.
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Supporters heard stories from our union coworkers as well as from elected officials and others who joined us to call on REI to remain neutral, should green vests at the REI Ithaca location choose to organize. Furthermore, they demanded that REI ditch their consistent pattern of union busting and begin negotiating in good faith with their workers at union stores to settle contracts before the end of this year.
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Read more about the rally and our community demands at the Ithaca Times.
REI Green Vests Take Action Across Union Stores During REI’s Biggest Sale of the Year​​
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From May 17th - 27th, unionized REI workers across the country rallied, leafleted Co-op members, and went on ULP strike to amplify their continued demands for a fair union contract by the end of 2024.
Hundreds of REI members, shoppers, elected officials, and community supporters stopped by these actions to show solidarity for green vests and their fight for a strong deal. Read more about a few of these actions below:
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REI Castleton Rallies with Community Figures
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REI Bellingham Goes on ULP Strike Saturday, May 25th
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SoHo Green Vests Stage Rally with Labor Groups Outside Flagship Store
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REI Cleveland Workers Rally Alongside Politicians for a Fair Contract
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Green Vests in Chicago Walk Out on ULP Strike and Shut Down Store
REI Santa Cruz Wins Union Election​​
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April 19th 2024 — REI workers in Santa Cruz, California voted 33 to 12 to unionize with UFCW Local 5 this Thursday. The workers in Santa Cruz filed for their election in March and will become the 10th REI store to win their election to join the REI Union movement. They will also become the second REI Co-op store to be represented in the Bay Area, alongside REI Berkeley.
In public statements from workers at the store, green vests voiced their excitement to win and move onto the next step of building their first union contract.
A Growing Union Campaign Has Put REI's Progressive Image On Trial
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March 16th 2024 — HUFFPOST: REI workers from stores around the country showed up uninvited at their corporate office in Issaquah, Washington, last Friday. The signs they were carrying made it clear to the white-collar employees looking down from the windows above that they weren’t there to tour the campus.
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Plenty of REI’s devoted customers ― “members,” in company parlance, since REI is structured as a cooperative ― would have been surprised to see disaffected employees protesting such a beloved retailer. But a growing union campaign that has so far organized nine stores and counting is testing the progressive reputation that REI built through its environmental and conservation advocacy over the years.
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Workers who are trying to improve their jobs through a union contract say the cooperative is failing to live up to its values and damaging its reputation in the process.
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Read the Full Article Here
REI Workers File for Union Election in Santa Cruz, CA​​
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March 14th 2024 — SANTA CRUZ, CA: - Today, REI workers at the Santa Cruz location filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board, registering their intent to join United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 5. The location would be the 2nd REI store in the Bay Area and the 10th REI store nationwide to unionize for fair pay, sustainable schedule practices, and better working conditions.
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Truitt Archibald (he/him), REI Sales Specialist at the Santa Cruz store, said the following: "Today. I'm proud to stand with my coworkers and take this first step towards a better REI for workers, consumers, and the larger outdoor community. As green vest, it's our hard work and expertise that make REI the brand that it is. We deserve the compensation respect, and safer working conditions that only a union contract can guarantee. I feel honored to join this growing movement."​
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REI Workers to March to Headquarters
March 7th, 2024 — ISSAQUAH, WA - REI employees from the company’s nine unionized stores around the country, including in Boston, plan to hike from a park in Issaquah, Wash., to REI headquarters Thursday afternoon to demand that executives come to the table and bargain in good faith.
Over the past two weeks, union members have held events in the nine communities where they’re organized to unveil a national platform demanding job security, guaranteed minimum hours, a consistent sick policy, and minimum staffing levels. Bargaining for a first contract has been dragging on for as long as two years at the Soho location in New York, the first store to organize. When REI changed its legal representation a year into negotiations, the unions said, the company rolled back an agreement to give workers there the same pay increases offered to non-union stores the day after the union election.
In November, in the first coordinated effort among all the REI union employees, who are represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, the workers filed 80 unfair labor practice charges against the company for bargaining in bad faith and engaging in anti-union behavior.
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REI Castleton location becomes 9th store to unionize
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February 12th 2024 — INDIANAPOLIS - Workers at a Castleton REI store in Indianapolis won their union election by a 27-17 vote Friday, joining a young national union collective and becoming the ninth store of the outdoors retailer to unionize.
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Workers are demanding consistent hours, competitive wages adjusted for inflation, improved communication as well as healthcare, parental leave and PTO adjustments in their move to unionize.
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“An overwhelming number of us voted in favor of unionizing, and we can’t wait to make REI Castleton a better place for everyone,” the national collective posted on social media. “Here’s to forging a stronger Co-op alongside our union siblings nationwide.”
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