In a significant escalation of a protracted labor conflict, unionized workers at outdoor retailer REI have voted to authorize a boycott targeting the company's most important annual sales event. The union announced on Wednesday that an overwhelming majority of employees from eleven organized stores supported the move this week, setting the stage for a potential customer boycott during REI's upcoming anniversary sale in May.
A Critical Step in a Four-Year Struggle
The boycott authorization represents a major tactical shift in a labor battle that has persisted for four years at the consumer-owned cooperative. According to the union, this decisive action was prompted by REI's unilateral implementation of cuts to benefits, starting wages, and raises for unionized workers. "The company is now unilaterally implementing cuts to benefits, starting wages, and raises for REI Union workers, which led union members to take this critical next step," the union stated.
Timeline and Potential Impact
A final decision on whether to proceed with the boycott will be made by May 1, leaving a window for potential progress in negotiations between the two parties. If implemented, the boycott would ask customers to refrain from shopping at REI's website and all brick-and-mortar stores throughout the anniversary sale period. This event typically spans the ten days leading up to Memorial Day and generates the cooperative's highest sales traffic annually, driven by member coupons and discounts on camping and hiking equipment.
While employees at unionized stores have previously engaged in strikes, this marks the first instance of workers calling for a comprehensive boycott of the entire cooperative to amplify their message. Anni Saludo, a worker and union leader at REI's Durham, North Carolina store, expressed confidence in customer support, citing past solidarity during strikes. "Our members will absolutely understand why we're doing this," Saludo said. "Our last strike we had at Durham, we had many members ask us what was happening and turn around and not shop."
Broader Context of Retail Unionization Efforts
The REI campaign is part of a larger wave of organizing efforts at previously non-union retailers, including Starbucks and Amazon. Despite successful unionization votes at numerous stores and facilities, securing initial collective bargaining agreements has proven challenging across these companies. None of REI's unionized stores currently has a contract, mirroring the situation at Starbucks and Amazon where union members also remain without agreements.
Company Response and Concerns
REI, structured as a consumer-owned cooperative with a progressive reputation, has expressed disappointment regarding the potential boycott. A company spokesperson previously warned that such actions could have lasting consequences. "Actions like this aimed at weakening the business can have real, lasting consequences, and put the jobs, wages, benefits, and future opportunities employees depend on at risk," the spokesperson stated. "This certainly seems to undermine the very outcomes the union says it is focused on."
Despite the strong pushback from leadership, workers at nearly a dozen of REI's 190 stores have joined the United Food and Commercial Workers and its sister union, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. The company has maintained that it intends to reach a fair deal, though no collective bargaining agreements have been finalized to date.
The upcoming weeks will determine whether this boycott authorization becomes a reality or if negotiations can produce a breakthrough in this ongoing labor dispute at one of America's most prominent outdoor retailers.
