During the middle of REI’s annual Anniversary Sale, a delegation of Cleveland elected officials hand delivered a letter to management at the REI store in Beachwood, Ohio, demanding the company bargain in good faith and commit to reaching a union contract by the end of 2024. In an unprecedented move, they also hand delivered recent unfair labor practice charges (ULPs) filed by the union on Friday at the store, adding to a growing litany of charges against the company still awaiting adjudication by the labor board. Following the delivery, elected officials joined rallying workers, REI Co-Op members, Cleveland labor groups including members of the North Shore Labor Federation (AFL-CIO), fellow union members and leaders from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), and others in support of REI workers. Earlier this month, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown also sent a letter to REI management demanding the company bargain in good faith. The Senator has supported the workers at the store since their long, needlessly delayed union election.

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.

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.