REI Co-Op in Chicago (Photo by Igor Studenkov/for Chronicle Media)

Employees at the REI Co-Op’s Chicago store spent a recent weekend picketing as the unionized workforce says management has resisted negotiating a fair contract.  

The company, which is legally known as Recreational Equipment Inc, sells outdoor recreation clothes and equipment — in other words, anything from bikes to climbing gear. It has 181 stores, five of which are in the Chicago area. The Chicago store is in the Clybourn Corridor section of the Lincoln Park neighborhood. REI markets itself as a progressive brand that supports its workers and contributes to causes such as environmental sustainability. 

However, the unionized workers at the Chicago store claim that their employer doesn’t practice what it preaches. The organizers told Chronicle Media they decided to strike Labor Day weekend because REI is dragging its feet at the bargaining table. They also argue that current polices leave the store understaffed, which hurts employees and shoppers alike.  

REI was founded in Seattle to offer outdoor enthusiasts climbing gear by offering memberships. That has evolved into a store chain that carries items related to outdoor sports and activities. It also branched out into hiking trips and classes.  

REI is still a consumers’ cooperative, with members getting discounts, but store employees aren’t members – they are hired just like they would be in any other store. The prices for customers who walk off the street or shop online are more boutique in scale. 

The company has positioned itself as socially responsible. Its REI Cooperative Action Fund offers grants to “organizations promoting justice, equity and belonging in the outdoors to strengthen the health and well-being of people and communities.”

According to a company press release, in Fall 2023, the fund donated $6.1 million to 264 nonprofit organizations. In Chicago, that included $50,000 to the Equiticity biking and walking advocacy group and $10,000 to Major Taylor Trail Keepers, which maintain the eponymous bike and walking trail on the Far South Side.  

The Chicago store has a wall highlighting employees engaged in outdoor activities, and there is a prominent sign proclaiming that “Everyone is Welcome, Discrimination is Not.” 

“Being a co-op means respecting, supporting and protecting everyone in our community,” reads the smaller text underneath. “That’s why we are committed to becoming a fully inclusive, anti-racist, multicultural organization. Join us.” 

But in a press release announcing the store’s unionization, workers said they wanted “to hold REI accountable to being the employer they claim to be,” describing “a drop in store hours, staffing and unpredictable scheduling.”  

The Chicago store was the fourth store to organize. Like other unionized stores before and since, it chose to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. 

At the time, Emily Burchett, who worked as a sales lead at the Chicago store, urged REI to “bargain in good faith.” 

“United, all of us at REI Union share a vision for our workplace that starts with holding REI accountable to its stated values, which they seem to have forgotten,” she said. “This can only happen with a union contract — failing to negotiate in good faith undermines the co-op way.” 

Margaux Lantelme worked at the Chicago store “a little over a year” and currently serves as one of the negotiators. Since Spring 2023, union negotiations haven’t gotten far. 

“Not a lot has been happening,” she said. “[REI] has been dragging their feet and doing the classic union-busting tactics.” 

Lantelme said the tactics included telling employees that the union would be an obstacle to discussing their hours with their managers, and generally depicting the union as an entity that gets between workers and management. 

“We the workers are the union,” Lantelme said. “That’s a big point — they’re constantly referring to the union as a third party.” 

She also alleges that REI gives raises to workers in nonunionized stores while withholding them from unionized ones, which she saw as a veiled threat toward stores that might be thinking about unionizing. 

“For me, personally, I live paycheck to paycheck,” she said, adding that it wasn’t just because of the lack of raises, but because she and her coworkers had their hours reduced.  

“I believe that’s a union-busting tactic — cutting people’s hours,” Lantelme said. “They claim they don’t have the money to pay us, but they pay for those very expensive lawyers [to handle contract negotiations].” 

In the summer of 2023, REI hired Morgan Lewis, a law firm notorious for representing companies that resisted unionization, such as Amazon. The Dec. 28, 2020 version of their website’s section on labor-related legal services mentioned that “In addition to assisting employers during union organizing campaigns and related litigation, we help clients promote positive employee relations and strategically shape bargaining units to minimize potential union organizing victories.” The language after “positive employee relations” has since been removed.  

In a statement to Chronicle Media, REI insisted that it was bargaining in good faith. 

“REI is not union busting,” it stated. “REI is committed to negotiating in good faith with our stores that have chosen union representation. The collective bargaining process —especially when negotiating a first contract — can be lengthy. Both parties have been engaged in numerous negotiations and have reached tentative agreements on various topics. We remain steadfast in our commitment to this process and to finding a mutually beneficial agreement with our stores that have chosen union representation.” 

Lantelme said that, in the past few months, the union organized three one-day walkouts. For Labor Day weekend, they decided to walk out to speak out against REI foot-dragging and reductions of hours that, the union said, left the store understaffed, “putting undue burden on workers during a busy sale weekend.” 

The union walked out on Saturday, Aug. 31 and Sunday, Sept. 1. The store stayed open, with managers keeping the store running. 

“We had to try to persuade people who chose to come to shop to shop at a different time, or shop elsewhere,” Lantelme said, adding that, while some customers “crossed the picket line” others were supportive.  

The fact that they were striking during the Labor Day weekend made it more meaningful to her. 

“[Labor Day] was supposed to be about workers, and we the workers weren’t treated fairly, so it was a nice day to strike,” Lantelme said. 

The union hopes to finish negotiating the contract by the end of the year, but Lantelme admits she isn’t optimistic. She believes that REI may stall until the presidential election, since the winner would determine the composition of the National Labor Relations Board. 

“We have a bargaining day coming up in a couple of weeks, so we’ll see what happens,” Lantelme said. The most important thing that we know of the fact is that we as union will not give up regardless of who is president. We will continue the fight as long as it takes. Hopefully, it won’t be another year.”