REI, a camping and outdoor sports equipment retailer, violated the US labor law, and employees filed dozens of complaints at eight retail stores due to retaliation against pro-union workers.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has received 80 complaints from employees at New York, California, Chicago, and Boston stores to force the company to bargain with their unions.
REI Receives Dozen Complaints From Employees
According to the complaints, REI has retaliated against pro-union workers, reconstructed jobs, and changed employment conditions without any input from the unions, and a delayed agreement with unions that won elections at the stores.
The labor board looked into the workers' complaints to decide on pressing charges against the employers. The administrative judges heard the charges, in which the verdict could be requested from the five-member NLRB and then to federal appeals courts.
The union campaign at REI was part of a nationwide wave of labor organizing that started during the pandemic, including Starbucks baristas, Amazon warehouse workers, employees of various video game creators, and Apple retail workers.
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union represented the unionized stores. According to the union's statement, the REI employees said that the company had violated their rights to have the freedom to choose a union representation.
"Instead of acknowledging our collective voice and our right to form a union, we faced strong opposition from management in the form of retaliation, misinformation, and disregard for basic labor law," Anni Saludo, a sales specialist at an REI store in Durham, North Carolina, said.
REI Responds to Complaints
Sumner, Washington-based REI, also known as Recreational Equipment, has denied the claims in the complaints in the statement.
The company said they were committed and engaged in good-faith bargaining with stores that have chosen union representation and would continue to participate fully in the negotiating process.
The company owns 180 stores and has 15,000 employees nationwide, claiming that the recent changes to job titles and workers' schedules were unassociated with union organizing.
In the 2021 financial and annual impact report, the company gained $3.7 billion in sales, an increase of 36% compared to 2020. "2021 was an historic year for the co-op," Eric Artz, President and CEO of REI Co-op, said.
The co-op team said that their team and partners strive to meet every challenge, especially during the pandemic, which caused persistent supply chain disruptions. They pursued working together towards a shared vision.
Furthermore, the members have proven their loyalty to their business, allowing them to continue investing in the communities they have served.
According to Reuters, REI employees in Chicago, Boston, and Minnesota organized a protest about the dismissal and changes to working conditions last month.
The Legal Information Institute reported that the goal of the labor law was to equalize the bargaining power and influence agreements between employers and employees. The law grants the employees the right to unionize and to perform strikes to meet their demands.
