Frustrated Berkeley REI Workers Accuse Co-Op of Union Busting, Straying From Values

When the REI store in Berkeley voted to unionize in 2022, Michael Robin envisioned the company hammering out solutions during negotiations over top employee priorities, such as more consistent scheduling.

The avid hiker knew that bargaining a first contract often took longer than a year, but he expected the two sides to reach an agreement on how to reduce turnover and improve jobs, he said. After all, many outdoor enthusiasts like him applied to work at REI because of its progressive values.

Almost three years later, Robin and other frustrated employees say the company has stalled efforts to reach a contract and harmed unionized workers by excluding them from bonuses and pay raises to erode union support, a claim the company denies.

“It definitely feels like retribution, like punishment,” said Robin, who has helped customers select footwear at the Berkeley store for nearly four years. “REI is not living up to its values, not treating us with the respect we deserve. It’s really sad why a company that has a deep history of doing the right thing isn’t doing that.”

The outdoor specialty retailer has yet to sign a legally binding agreement with any of its 11 stores that have voted to unionize over the past three years. A federal labor board is reviewing dozens of claims that the company violated labor laws, including by illegally terminating and intimidating workers. Growing dissatisfaction has also led some employees at the Berkeley store and another location to take steps to decertify the United Food and Commercial Workers as their union representative.

National Labor Relations Board investigators have issued at least four complaints against REI, finding sufficient evidence to pursue charges that the consumer cooperative failed to bargain in good faith. Agency attorneys allege that the consumer cooperative unlawfully discontinued annual merit pay increases and Summit Pay bonuses for hundreds of unionized store workers nationwide, while continuing to give the benefits to non-union employees.

U.S. private-sector workers have the right to use their collective voice to improve job conditions without retaliation, while employers are required to bargain in good faith. However, labor experts said weaknesses in these federal protections, which do not financially penalize violations, allow anti-union employers to undermine workers’ rights, often with little or no accountability.

Mary Beth Laughton, who recently became REI’s CEO after leading the activewear retailer Athleta, and Chris Carr, who chairs the company’s board of directors, declined an interview with KQED through the company’s press office. Another REI board member, Michael McAfee, who directs PolicyLink, an Oakland-based nonprofit research institute that aims to advance an equitable economy, also declined to comment.

In a statement, an REI spokesperson said negotiating a first contract is a complex process that takes time, but the company is fully engaged and has presented new proposals on merit and Summit pay. Union representatives counter that, while a first contract is negotiated, REI was required to continue providing the same benefits to workers as before they unionized.

“REI remains committed to the bargaining process and to negotiating in good faith with stores that have chosen union representation,” the statement read. “Reaching a contract requires both parties to come to a mutual agreement. It’s a two-way process — not something REI can decide or finalize on its own.”

Robin and other Berkeley workers, who have attended many of the 36 bargaining sessions, believe the company is intentionally delaying a deal. REI doesn’t send bargaining representatives who are authorized to decide on proposals to make significant progress at meetings, the workers said.

Instead, outside attorneys hired by the company discuss issues for a fraction of the day before leaving, the employees added. They note that the firm hired by REI for bargaining and to defend against unfair labor practice charges, Morgan Lewis, also represents SpaceX in a case challenging the constitutionality of the NLRB, a 90-year-old agency.

The longer negotiations take, the less likely workers will achieve a first deal, as many get discouraged or move on, said Patricia Campos-Medina, who directs the Worker Institute at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Employer opposition and unfair labor practices make it difficult for some workers to ever win a collective bargaining agreement, according to researchers. In a 2009 study, data from 1,000 organized units certified by the NLRB (meaning employers did not voluntarily recognize them) found that 52% failed to reach a contract within a year, and 30% still had no deal after three years. Research published in 2023 suggests an even smaller proportion is successful.

“Delaying actually getting to a collective bargaining agreement is a strategy by corporations to kill the will of workers to stay as members of the union,” Campos-Medina said. “That’s what Starbucks has done in their campaign, that’s what Amazon has done with the Amazon labor union. They won that election years ago, and they still don’t have a contract.”

Amazon signed contract deals with unions in other countries, such as Italy, where labor laws are stronger, she pointed out. Proposed reforms to the U.S. National Labor Relations Act, such as mandating mediation or arbitration if disputes are not settled within a reasonable time, are unlikely to pass in the current Republican-controlled Congress, Campos-Medina said.

At the Berkeley REI store, some employees petitioned the NLRB on April 16 to hold an election to decertify UFCW Local 5 as their representative. A store in Indianapolis made a similar request in February. The agency temporarily blocked the Indianapolis petition and is expected to do so in Berkeley until it resolves unfair labor practice charges at both locations, according to union and company representatives.

REI has asked the NLRB to let the Indianapolis decertification to proceed, arguing the union filed an unfair labor practice charge days after the workers’ petition solely to delay the election and remain as their representatives.

“We stand by our firm belief that our employees should always have a voice — whether that’s in choosing to be represented by a union or choosing to no longer be,” an REI spokesperson said. “Our focus remains on supporting every employee and building a workplace where people are heard, valued, and proud to be part of the co-op.”

The labor conflict comes as President Donald Trump left the five-member NLRB without a quorum to issue final decisions on cases where employers and unions are accused of illegal labor practices by removing a Democratic board member and failing to fill two other board vacancies.

The Trump administration also moved to mass fire federal employees and invalidate labor contracts covering about a million government workers. Sharon Block, a former NLRB member during the Obama and Biden administrations, said that a growing culture in corporate America that determines it makes business sense to flout labor laws is reinforced by the president’s actions.

“It’s an incredibly hard time for working people,” said Block, who directs Harvard Law School’s Center for Labor and a Just Economy. “We’re seeing these assaults, not just on their collective bargaining rights, but some of the basic labor standards that sort of undergird decent work in this country.”

REI was founded in 1938 as a consumer cooperative by mountaineering friends in Seattle to purchase quality outdoor gear at better prices. The company has since grown to employ more than 15,000 people at 185 stores in the U.S., generating $3.76 billion in net sales in 2023.

REI issues discounts and other perks to its 24 million members, who pay $30 for a lifetime membership. The co-op has been beloved for its mission to expand access to the outdoors, funneling millions of dollars per year to nonprofits, and its reputation as a great place to work. However, observers said that, as a business, it must also navigate intense pressures from Amazon and big-box competitors such as Walmart and Target. In recent years, the company has laid off hundreds of employees.

“The co-op is a really special place, one that is focused on serving not just our employees, members and customers, but on supporting the outdoor community and organizations that foster outdoor equity,” Carr, REI’s board chair and a former Starbucks and ExxonMobil executive, said in a video. “I’m eager to help evolve our products and services to help us reach more future members.”

Employees like Jules Geritz, who has worked at the Berkeley store for nearly 12 years, said the company’s fierce pushback to the union and delays to a first contract have been stressful for workers, making some afraid of retaliation if they speak up.

“There’s something that is frankly gross about proselytizing those sorts of values while restricting and doing everything you can to stand against employees who truly mean well and care about the company,” said Geritz, 41, a senior sales specialist. “It was definitely a rude awakening.”

At the Berkeley store, 76 non-management employees make an average of $24.25 an hour, slightly higher than at other retailers. Wage increases are important, but workers’ top demands focus on having enough available hours to qualify for company benefits, according to union representatives.

Many employees juggle two jobs or go to school, making a more regular work schedule a priority to help them plan ahead. Others are calling for improvements to ensure fair discipline and promotions, and a greater voice in safety issues, such as warehouse shoe boxes that employees said have fallen from stacks on several coworkers’ heads.

“We are not asking for anything crazy,” Robin, 67, said at his one-story home in Oakland, where shelves display hiking guidebooks along with Joni Mitchell and jazz CDs. Stacks of posters with green letters reading “Fair Contract Now” lay on top of boxes near his dining table.

“Holding REI to its own values is one of the things people are asking for, helping us grow and helping us get outdoors,” said Robin, who shopped at REI for decades before working for the company. “When I don’t have either enough vacation time or can’t afford to go spend a week at a national park, it’s like, ‘Well, how can I go and live the life outdoors if I’m selling all this stuff, but I can’t go do it?’”

Robin said that he has lost more than $3,000 in income from missed REI bonuses and wage increases, at a time when he’s working to save for retirement. His wife is currently unemployed, and the couple dipped into savings to pay for necessary home repairs, he said.

“Down to one income, and a not very large income working in retail, is a strain,” he said. “I need my savings. I need retirement income.”

Robin and Geritz said they feel hopeful after the company recently withdrew its endorsement of Trump’s pick to lead the U.S. Department of the Interior this month, following member protests. CEO Laughton said the co-op erred by signing onto an outdoor-recreation industry group letter backing former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum in January. Burgum has since fired more than 1,000 park rangers and other employees and moved to open federally managed lands to oil drilling and coal mining.

“Many of you shared your disappointment and your frustration with that decision, and I hear you. Let me be clear, signing that letter was a mistake,” Laughton, who began her term on March 31, said in a video. “I’m here today to apologize to our members on behalf of REI, to retract our endorsement of Doug Burgum and to take full accountability for how we move forward.”

Union workers are intensifying their efforts to engage customers and the public to pressure the co-op to change course. They are urging REI members, who can elect the company’s board of directors, to reject all candidates by voting “withhold” in elections that end on May 1.

Berkeley store workers are also organizing a community hearing, highlighting workers’ testimony, on Saturday, which East Bay Rep. Lateefah Simon, D-CA-12, is planning to attend.

“We need to see that follow-through at REI,” Simon, one of dozens of congressional members who signed a letter calling on the outdoor retailer to negotiate in good faith, said in a statement. “I am committed to ensuring workers at the Berkeley REI and across California’s 12th Congressional District are supported and have the right to unionize.”