REI Workers - Bargaining Update

Last Thursday and Friday, we met with REI’s attorneys to continue first contract negotiations. Our UFCW 3000 local leadership joined us at the table to show their support and amplify our voices. We bargained back and forth over language on Communication, Anti-Discrimination, Union Representation, New Technology, and Job Vacancies & Promotions. We also came to a Tentative Agreement on Successorship and Severability. But with no representatives who actually work for REI present and their attorneys holding firm to one-sided proposals, it still feels as though REI is stalling and avoiding making real progress towards an agreement. To make REI uphold its co-op values and to respect and invest in its union workers across the country, we need to share our stories and get our community involved in our fight.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

We’re supporting Shemona Moreno in her candidacy for a seat on REI’s board of directors in 2025! Learn more at ourREI.com:

Shemona Moreno is a proud Latinx & Black woman and lifelong activist who sees social justice, climate justice, and playing outdoors as inextricably linked. It is for her family and friends that she works tirelessly to fight the systems of oppression that have led us to our current climate crises. It is for her family and friends that she works to build a community that is resilient, beautiful, and thriving — where ALL are welcome. She started her path into 350 Seattle as a volunteer during the Defund the Dakota Access Pipeline Campaign in 2016 and has worked her way up to being the Executive Director of 350 Seattle, a member of the 350 Seattle Board, and a representative for the 350 National Local Group Network.

Shemona believes REI should be leading the way with good union jobs, not blocking progress by union-busting and silencing the voices of its own employees. That’s not the REI Shemona knows and loves. She’s running to be a voice for the people in green vests who make REI great but who are not allowed a voice on the co-op’s board of directors.

GET INVOLVED! We’ll be leafletting around our community to support Shemona’s campaign and to raise awareness about our fight for a fair contract. Sign up here:

In front of the Bellingham store: 

Saturday, November 16 • 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
REI Bellingham • 400 36th St, Bellingham, WA 98225

December dates & opportunities in Seattle and Bellevue to follow!

Mountains to Sound Greenway Annual Celebration

November 14, 5:30 PM in Seattle.

Mountains to Sound Greenway has many connections with REI, including CEO Artz and Sally Jewell. We’ll be attending this free event to chat with environmental leaders and let them know what’s going on with the campaign! If you are interested, sign up here: 

UPCOMING NEGOTIATIONS

We bargain next on December 16 and 17. To observe online, check your email for a link or contact a BT member.

Check the REI union Discord for upcoming negotiations around the country.

Our REI Bargaining Team: Alex Pollitt, Sue Cottrell, Tini Alexander, Sharon Martinez, Dan McCann

REI Workers - Gaining Momentum

Our REI campaign is gaining momentum! At the Democratic National Convention, UFCW 3000’s President Faye Guenther spoke to a crowd of WA state delegates about the anti-union tactics REI has been waging against its workers. Through this, delegates helped hand out our petition to get REI representatives at the bargaining table and have committed to support our campaign through political, community, and workplace fights.

Have your friends and family sign the petition here!

Faye Guenther, our union’s Secretary-Treasurer Joe Mizrahi, and chief of staff Sarah Cherin will start joining our bargaining tables with REI. Their attendance at our sessions on August 28 and 29 has already changed the pace. We achieved another Tentative Agreement—successorship (what happens if REI is sold)—and sent 4 additional proposals for REI to consider. In the next few weeks, our bargaining team will finalize a comprehensive proposal and begin negotiating off of a full contract with REI moving forward. 

This week we filed another Unfair Labor Practice against REI based on two major issues:

• Employer’s Refusal to TA Language

• Regressive Bargaining

If you have questions about our ULPs, reach out to our bargaining team.

UFCW staff will be coming through to grab photos and quotes from us at REI to begin using them in our media campaign. If you’re interested in supporting the digital campaign, let one of our bargaining team members know how to get plugged in. 

Our next membership meeting will be 7:00 PM on September 22 at Goods Local Brews in Bellingham (2620 Northwest Ave, Bellingham, WA).

Forward together, not one step back!

REI Bellingham Bargaining Team:
Alex, Tini, Sue, Dan (not pictured): Sharon

REI - Temperatures Are Rising And So Is The Employer’s Tone

Our negotiations with REI’s attorneys on June 24 and 25 reiterated how important our first contract will be. One of REI’s proposals included removing all past practices from our store, including REDI meetings and Let’s Talks. We know how important these meetings have been to our coworkers, and REI’s attorneys are out of touch with what helps our store run well.

Throughout negotiations these past two days, REI’s attorneys’ questioning about proposals became an opportunity to grandstand against the union, raising their voices and badgering our negotiating committee with hypothetical questions. This is not the tone we want to set with our management team in the Bellingham store, but it is the tone REI’s corporate wants to set with their workers.

After refusing to respond to three proposals and asking for our committee to bargain against itself, we reintroduced a few proposals that have been blanket rejected before. Progress was made on the Anti-Discrimination & Harassment article, and we came to a tentative agreement on the Safety Committee article. Bottom line—we will reach a first contract with REI and bring democracy back to the co-op for customers and our coworkers.

We know progress at the bargaining table is tough, so the way that we move REI is through collective action! Join our meeting on July 21 via Zoom to discuss our plan to put REI through a Summer of Stress until they agree to join the table in good faith.

If you have any questions, reach out to your union rep Dominick Ojeda at (360) 409-0595.

Our Bargaining Committee,
Left to Right: Sharon, Alex,
Not Pictured: Sue, Tini, Dan

REI Union Workers from Across the US March on Company Headquarters, Demand to Bargain in Good Faith

REI workers from around the country joined together yesterday to show our power and unwavering solidarity to fight for a fair first contract, marching on REI headquarters to invite CEO Eric Artz to sit down with representatives from the worker bargaining team—in person, right in the parking lot. REI management was a no-show, so the group of green vests delivered a letter to the Employer's locked front door, surrounded by cheering friends and allies there in solidarity!

REI has unilaterally changed their longstanding past practice and took away merit raises and 2024 Summit Pay at union REIs. Our union has joined other REI union locals around the country to file an Unfair Labor Practice against REI for breaking labor law.

Hear directly from our coworker Sue about why yesterday was so important:

“REI has a list of values and one of them is the ‘co-op way’. One of them is that we start from a place of respect. We acknowledge and resolve our differences of opinion because it helps us tackle problems, learn faster, do better, and go further.”

Has REI lived up to the co-op way? Union workers yesterday went to HQ to say NO! and to demand REI stop union-busting and negotiate with union workers in good faith. The way we win a fair contract is by being engaged and being ready to exercise our right to fight for it! Reach out to anyone on your bargaining team to get more involved in negotiations and upcoming actions.

Feel free to reach out to your union rep Dominick Ojeda at (206) 436-6586.

You can find more about the national campaign here: ourrei.com
View more from the action yesterday at the REI Union Twitter

REI - Bargaining Continues

On December 12 at 9:30 AM, your bargaining team met again to continue negotiations with REI. Bargaining across the country with REI has shown that our fight ahead requires strong solidarity and action to win our first contract.

We discussed the implementation of the restructuring plan and will continue to request information to keep members informed. REI stated that the implementation should be complete by January 28. Your store manager should begin having conversations with members this week to talk through their classification. If you have any questions or issues about your classification, work with your union rep, Dominick Ojeda, on next steps.

Our next bargaining dates are set for the last few weeks of January 2024, with potentially two in-person days. We hope to make progress at these meetings, and at our next bargaining prep meeting, your bargaining team will be planning our plan of action to win a fair first contract!

Ultimately, it is your process, and it will be successful to the extent that you, as a team, own this process.

Forward together, not one step back!

---

Join our next ZOOM bargaining prep meeting at 9:30 AM on January 11, 2024.

January 11 • 9:30 AM

Contact your Bargaining Team or Union Rep for call-in details. Details will be also emailed out.

---

Are you interested in joining bargaining with REI Corporate? A few things to know:

• RSVP with your union rep, Dominick Ojeda.

• Members not on the bargaining team are attending as observers; no comments are allowed during sessions with the Employer unless discussed beforehand.

• Be open-minded; consider each other’s viewpoints; and attack the issue, not the person.

• Once a position is adopted or decided, we all support that approach.

REI (Bellingham) - Bargaining Begins

REI (BELLINGHAM)
BARGAINING BEGINS

Our first bargaining session on Tuesday, November 14, is the start of a long fight. Our introductory session included our Bargaining Team, some of our REI Bellingham coworkers as observers, and REI’s legal counsel at the table. Our initial proposals focused on union security to ensure we keep the union we’ve won and representation language (including union access, bulletin boards, meeting spaces, and stewards). From REI’s counterproposals, it is clear that we have a long way to go to finding agreement.

Our Bargaining Team discussed the recent changes head on and questioned the Employer’s decision to make unilateral changes to working conditions. We will continue that conversation as we bargain over the effects of the changes, continue our Unfair Labor Practice charges against REI, and work together with the REI members across the country who are also dealing with these issues while bargaining their first contracts.

We are looking forward to our next session on December 12. If you’re interested in joining virtually, please contact Union Rep Dominick Ojeda @ (206) 436-6586.

"Our first day felt really shallow, but it was nice to finally meet and put faces to the names. Feels like the beginning of a long relationship." —Tini Alexander, Bargaining Team member

Our REI Bargaining Team (L—R): Tini Alexander, Sue Cottrell, Sharon Martinez, Alex Pollitt, Johnny Cooke (not pictured)