It shouldn’t take a boycott to get REI Co-op to listen to its members | Opinion
When big retail corporations like Amazon put profits over people, retaliate against workers for unionizing and engage in false marketing, sadly, it’s not much of a surprise to consumers. But when a company like Pacific Northwest legend REI Co-Op uses that same playbook, it’s a shock to the millions of outdoor recreation lovers who have loyally shopped for equipment, clothes and other fun stuff there for decades.
REI Co-Op members — staff and customers alike — aren’t sitting back quietly and throwing up their hands, we are pushing back by pledging to boycott REI during this year’s anniversary sale, May 15-25.
With nearly 200 stores across the country, REI is the largest consumer co-op in America. Since 2022, workers at 11 REI locations across the country have voted to unionize, but the company has refused to reach an agreement with workers on wages, staffing and other workplace issues. Instead of stepping up to invest in the folks in green vests who make it a successful business, REI just announced they are cutting benefits and lowering pay. This announcement came just weeks after REI caused contract negotiations to fail by insisting that staff in union stores be paid less than staff in non-union stores.
A homegrown co-op founded by mountain climbers nearly 100 years ago, REI leadership should be ashamed of the way the company treats its employees today. They market a brand based on democratic values, environmental sustainability, and a positive workplace for employees. They aren’t walking the talk.
REI is way out of step with the values of its members, customers and employees alike, people who love the outdoors and support responsible environmental stewardship of our public lands. Last year, former Nike executive Mary Beth Laughton took over as CEO, replacing Eric Artz, who retired shortly after overseeing the co-op’s endorsement of President Donald Trump’s pick for interior secretary, Doug Burgum, a billionaire who is set on boosting drilling on public lands and moving to allow mining in national monuments.
During REI’s 2025 board of directors elections, the company blocked candidates who were running to be a voice for workers and to fight to get the co-op back to its mission on environmental sustainability from appearing on the ballot. Members were irate.
They sent a message by voting down REI’s cherry-picked corporate candidates. In response, the co-op unilaterally changed the bylaws of its board to appoint unelected directors for a period of three years, further stifling the voice of co-op members. Today REI’s board of directors is largely made up of executives from corporations like Exxon Mobile, Proctor and Gamble, and McKinsey Consulting. The board also sets its own compensation. Not exactly the hallmarks of a progressive business.
Instead of investing in the people in green vests who make the company successful, REI pays Morgan Lewis, one of the largest and most expensive firms which has represented Trump and Amazon, to intimidate workers and stymie union organizing efforts. Instead of respecting long-time employees with years of outdoors experience, REI retaliates against workers for voicing concerns, withholds raises, and even fires workers for union organizing. Last year, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that REI Co-op broke the law by withholding merit raises and summit pay from workers at unionized stores nationwide. These benefits have been part of REI’s employee benefits package for over a decade. In its complaint, the NLRB documents that REI’s decision to withhold raises and bonuses from workers constitutes illegal retaliation against union stores, and that the company has refused to bargain in good faith with the union stores.
It’s not too late for REI to regain its place as the industry leader it’s historically been. Customers and employees are in solidarity in asking the company to treat workers with the respect they deserve. We hope this boycott will get REI to listen to its members and practice the democratic principles inherent in operating as a true co-op. We will continue to fight for what’s right and what’s fair.
Tini Alexander is a shop steward at the Bellingham REI store. Faye Guenther is a national labor leader, lawyer, co-founder of Labor for Democracy, and president of UFCW 3000, the largest UFCW union in the country, representing nearly 60,000 grocery, retail, healthcare, cannabis and other workers in the Northwest.