REI members, vote for board directors who reflect co-op values

As a lifelong Northwesterner, I have been involved in outdoor recreation in one form or another my whole life, from summer camps to guiding cross-country ski trips, sea kayaking to backpacking. I co-owned and ran an outdoor recreation store in Bellingham from 1990 until 2000, when REI opened a store there. We knew the competition would shrink our business so we closed our store, and after 14 years’ employment in other outdoor recreation jobs, I went to work for REI. I appreciated that it was a co-op with a reputation for valuing the expertise of the staff serving its member-owners.

The first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest, Jim Whittaker, was the first full-time employee of REI. Whittaker described the early years of REI with fondness: “It was always a great meeting place. … The customers were all climbers. We were talking about nothing but the outdoors: Where are you going this weekend, that kind of stuff.” But much to some workers’ dismay, REI is straying far from its co-op roots and mountaineer founders’ vision. 

Just this week REI announced it was laying off 180 full-time and 248 part-time employees with outdoor recreation expertise they provide to customers through tours and classes. The company touts its commitment to ethical and environmental sustainability standards, but researchers at University of Massachusetts at Amherst said in a report REI’s supply chain contains violations of worker rights. And REI has made changes to limit members’ power and favor executive rule. The company board of directors is largely made up of former executives from such corporations as ExxonMobil, Procter & Gamble and McKinsey & Company consulting, not members of the community with a stake in social, economic or environmental sustainability. The board also sets its own compensation and allows only preselected candidates to run for the board — not exactly the hallmarks of a progressive business.

Over a year ago, employees voted to unionize at the REI Bellingham store, asking for more respectful treatment, a living wage and adequate staffing to provide the top-quality goods and services our customers deserve. But REI, unwilling to address concerns and negotiate a fair contract, is dragging its feet. We have seen REI push out longtime employees with years of outdoors experience and create conditions that cause high staff turnover. Instead of practicing co-op values by respecting members’ say in the business, REI has retaliated against workers for voicing concerns by withholding raises and profit-sharing, even firing workers for union organizing. There are 35 open unfair labor practice charges filed against the company, alleging illegal layoffs and firings to coercion and intimidation around unionizing.

Instead of investing in the people in green vests who make the company successful, REI spent what I can only imagine is millions on a union-busting law firm, Morgan Lewis, which has worked for President-elect Donald Trump and Amazon. Morgan Lewis is currently representing SpaceX in a case that aims to take away workers’ right to unionize by challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board.

REI members and workers are the reason the company has become a global outdoor recreation leader. We have a stake in this company. We can and should have a greater say in its operations. Every year, REI remits a portion of its profits back to its members based on how much they spent at REI the previous year. As co-op owners, members also elect the board; ballots for directors will be mailed out to REI members this spring. Let’s make sure our voices are heard by supporting candidates who have pledged to steer REI back to respecting its co-op values. Together, we can restore this company to a status we can truly be proud of, whether we are customers or employees.