Twitter accounts for REI Union Chicago, REI Union Boston, and REI Union Durham
Last year, employees at several stores operated by consumer cooperative1 Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) began the process of unionization. Although efforts at REI have been slower going than some of their fellow retail union counterparts like Starbucks Workers United, they've still been moving. In fact, two major labor unions appear to be involved in the unionization process of the retailer: the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and its smaller affiliate union Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). In March of 2022, an REI store in Manhattan became the first unionized REI store in the country (affiliating directly with RWDSU); thereafter, it's been followed by REI stores in Berkeley, CA (UFCW) and Cleveland, OH (RWDSU).
Now, there are at least four stores which have announced their intent to unionize. On March 31, an REI store in Chicago announced its intent to unionize after most of its employees signed cards with the union. They are seeking voluntary recognition from REI as a result–although as of today they do not seem to have been answered–and they'll be affiliated with RWDSU if/when they win.
On Tuesday (April 10), an REI store in Eugene, Oregon affiliated with UFCW filed for an election, although I'm not aware of any public announcement beyond this reddit post in /r/Eugene. On Wednesday (April 11), members of an REI store in Boston also announced their intent to unionize with UFCW. Finally, yesterday (April 12), an REI store in Durham affiliated with UFCW announced their intent to follow Chicago, Eugene, and Boston. Common complaints and motivations are as you'd expect: the stores don't pay a living wage, have chronic staffing problems, fail to enshrine benefits into contracts, and workers generally just want a seat at the bargaining table to ensure their interests are best reflected.
Despite REI's ostensible progressivism and alleged commitment to seeing through the unionization process, the cooperative has resorted to fairly typical anti-union tactics. According to the Boston Globe this included at least one captive meeting at the Boston location. Their CEO, Eric Artz, is also an open skeptic of unions and has used REI's diversity commitments to argue that unionization is unnecessary at the store.2 Ironically, these efforts have probably done as much to fuel unionization efforts as the actual circumstances of REI workers by exposing how shallow the interest from REI leadership in helping workers actually is.
Be on the lookout for more unionization efforts in this space–REI has approximately 170 stores, and these are just 7 of them.
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Not to be confused with a worker cooperative. If you're American, probably the most likely place you'll interface with a consumer cooperative is a credit union.
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Using all of the stereotypical tropes you'd expect, also. Here's a bingo check for you: preempting things with a land acknowledgement (“...I'm speaking to you today from the traditional lands of the Coast Salish peoples.”); unions being a "bad fit" for REI (“[they] impact our ability to communicate and work directly with our employees.”); and toothless, company-led alternatives to be "seen and heard" through (Artz proposes REI's “employee inclusion networks” which “provide an opportunity for connection” for people who “share a common characteristic of historically underrepresented diversity”) as an alternative.