During the middle of REI’s annual Anniversary Sale, members of REI Union Chicago, represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), stopped work and walked off the job in an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike to protest REI’s failure to bargain a contract in good faith. Joined by fellow union members, elected officials including State Senators Robert Peters and Lakesia Collins, Don Villar, Secretary-Treasurer of the Chicago Federation of Labor, and other leaders and workers from across Chicago’s labor movement, they rallied and demanded REI agree to reach a fair contract by the end of 2024.

The REI Union National Steering Committee held a “board meeting” zoom call with workers from all ten unionized stores across the country. This open union “board meeting” came on the heels of REI’s annual privately held corporate board meeting, which notoriously excludes Co-Op members and workers from participating in a real way. During the call, workers reviewed the company’s union busting practices, and gave a status update on the glacial pace of union contract negotiations. A recording of the event and additional supporting reference documents can be viewed and used by the media here.

By an overwhelming vote of 85% in favor of the union, workers at the Barnes & Noble 82nd Street Store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan have voted to join the RWDSU. Their win follows six overwhelming union votes nationwide by workers at Barnes & Noble Inc. and one at Barnes & Noble Education so far. Workers at this store now join two other unionized stores in New York City including the Flagship at Union Square and the Park Slope, Brooklyn store. There have also been a streak of wins by the RWDSU at independent booksellers in the area, including McNally Jackson, Goods for the Study, Greenlight Bookstore and Book Culture.

REI workers from across the country who have unionized with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) hiked to REI’s national headquarters in Issaquah, Washington, where they delivered their unified national platform to the company and called on management to bargain in good faith at tables outside – bringing bargaining to their literal doorstep.