On May 8th, following the “Vote No” campaign led by the REI union, REI announced that all of its unopposed candidates running to serve on its Board of Directors had been rejected by REI members. The USFWC’s Union Co-ops Council (UCC) celebrates the REI workers and co-op members who worked together to make this win happen, and is encouraging REI members to follow the REI union’s next call to action: send a letter to the new CEO to appoint the pro-worker candidates, Tefere Gebre and Shemona Moreno.
Following the first successful unionization at REI SoHo in New York City in January 2022, the UCC called on REI’s leadership to embrace the union as part of its cooperative mission. After years of stalling and union busting, in September 2024, the USFWC membership voted to endorse the REI union/co-ops solidarity campaign, which now has 40 cooperative organizations and 300 cooperators signed on to call for REI to stop union busting and bargain a first contract in good faith.
Since then, the UCC has continued building solidarity with the REI union, culminating in our support getting out the vote for the “Vote No” campaign. In April, we turned out to REI stores and #HandsOff protests across the US to flyer co-op members to vote no on the 3 candidates, explaining the ongoing union busting, bad faith bargaining, and their recent pro-Trump endorsement. On May Day, the last day of the election, we were excited to celebrate International Workers Day with REI SoHo union workers at BOYFRIEND co-op.
We mobilized to make clear to REI’s leadership that, to call themselves a cooperative, they need to live up to the international cooperative principles. We are optimistic that this has sent a clear message to REI’s leadership, with the new CEO, Mary Beth Laughton, acknowledging the election results today as a “clear sign to me that we have a big opportunity to actively seek out and listen to what our members and employees are telling us.”
“We are immensely proud of the workers at REI who have fought back and won against the undemocratic actions of the REI board,” said Craig Ickler of Cleveland Owns, a co-op business developer and USFWC member. “Unions and cooperatives are complementary forces for working people and workplace democracy. We were thrilled to play a part and help turn out the cooperative movement here in Cleveland. We’re hopeful REI has heard this message and returns to cooperative values. ”
We support the REI union’s call to appoint the pro-worker candidates, Tefere Gebre and Shemona Moreno, who were arbitrarily and without reason denied the ability to run for the board initially. The overwhelming mandate against the 3 candidates shows that members want a direction that re-grounds REI in its cooperative mission, and we believe these two leaders are well-equipped to do so.
USFWC members can join the solidarity campaign through the Union Co-op Council. Find our monthly meeting information via the USFWC’s website calendar.
