Co-ops and Co-op Members: Tell the REI Co-op Board to Stop Union Busting and Bargain A Fair Contract!
RECREATIONAL EQUIPMENT, INC.
REI Co-op, the outdoor recreation retail company, claims to do business differently than the average big corporation. The company’s website states that being a member-owned cooperative allows them “to focus on shared values, not share values.” In its “Co-op Way,” REI states that these values include “going further together” and “courageously embracing change.” When workers at REI’s SoHo location became the first to unionize in 2022, they hoped that REI would embody these values as the company entered a new chapter in which workers actually have a voice on the job.
But REI’s response was – and continues to be – a betrayal of basic Co-op values. Immediately, REI launched an aggressive union busting campaign. REI workers across the country have bravely continued their unionization efforts, but REI’s union busting also continues even as ten stores have unionized. For over two years at the bargaining table, REI has refused to negotiate in good faith. Workers who unionized in March 2022 are still nowhere near a first contract agreement. REI continues to enact unilateral changes to working conditions across the “Co-op,” refusing to bargain with their union workers as they are obligated to do under federal labor law.
As members of the US cooperative movement, we are outraged to learn that REI continues to market itself as a “Co-op” while refusing to uphold the values so dear to those of us in the co-op movement. We are joining together to demand that REI stop union busting and negotiate in good faith with their union workers to reach a fair first contract by the end of 2024. We are proud to be in solidarity with the U.S. Federation of Worker Co-ops (USFWC) in building a US cooperative movement that respects workers, and we are calling on all cooperative organizations across the country to join us in calling out union busting and bad faith bargaining as anti-cooperative behavior. We also denounce REI and any other union busting company’s use of “co-op” branding that uses our shared principles to launder their reputation. Cooperation includes cooperating with your workers to bargain a contract.
Please sign our petition in solidarity with the REI Union and share with fellow members of our Co-op movement!
Sponsored by
To:
RECREATIONAL EQUIPMENT, INC.
From:
[Your Name]
As members of the US cooperative movement, we are calling on the REI Co-op Board of Directors to stop union busting and negotiate in good faith with your union workers to reach a fair first contract by the end of 2024.
For over two years, REI workers have had their reasonable demands dismissed outright at the bargaining table. REI continues to enact unilateral changes to working conditions across the “Co-op” without bargaining with your union workers, as you are obligated to do under federal labor law.
As co-op members, we are outraged to learn that REI continues to advertise itself as a “Co-op” while failing to uphold basic co-op values – including your own “Co-op Way.” Negotiating a strong union contract with your workers is the very definition of “courageously embracing change” and “going further together.”
Real cooperatives are based on the values of self-help, self responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. Cooperative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility, and caring for others. By union busting and refusing to come to a fair deal, REI Co-op is betraying its own values and the values of the Co-op movement at large, and we refuse to have our work building co-ops be associated with such anti-cooperative behavior.
Green vests pour their heart and soul into the Co-op, and they are simply trying to make REI a better place to work and shop. Until a strong first contract is ratified by union REI workers across the country, we hereby denounce this consumer co-op and demand that REI stop profiting off their “Co-op” branding. The co-op community is watching, and we stand in full solidarity with the REI Union movement.