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The REI store in Berkeley on March 28, 2025.\u00a0Credit: Martin do Nascimento\/KQED<\/p>\nThe REI store in Berkeley on March 28, 2025.\u00a0Credit: Martin do Nascimento\/KQED<\/p>\n
Sales specialist Eli Inkelas helps outdoor enthusiasts shop at Recreational Equipment Inc. But on a recent day, the 28-year-old asked potential customers approaching\u00a0REI\u2019s Berkeley store<\/a>\u00a0to boycott the retailer\u2019s biggest sale of the year in support of unionized workers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want REI corporate and their attorneys to treat us respectfully and to bargain in good faith and help us ratify this contract that we\u2019ve been fighting for now for three years,\u201d said Inkelas, a Berkeley native who has also worked at REI in Boston.<\/p>\n Hundreds of unionized REI workers are urging customers to boycott the retailer\u2019s anniversary sale through Memorial Day as contract negotiations have stretched for more than three years, escalating pressure on the outdoor co-op to reach a deal while it works to recover from recent financial losses.<\/p>\n The company said the controversial tactic, also opposed by some employees at union stores, threatens jobs at a time when it\u2019s trying to regain its financial footing.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a disappointing move that targets the co\u2011op. It seems the union\u2019s focus is on harming the financial wellbeing of the business, instead of advancing negotiations,\u201d REI said in a\u00a0statement<\/a>. \u201cThe union\u2019s dedication to undermining the business puts jobs, wages, benefits, and future opportunity at risk, and pulls everyone further from the progress our employees deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n REI, a values-based consumer co-op, said it remains committed to bargaining in good faith. The specialty outdoor retailer, headquartered near Seattle, has not finalized an agreement with workers at any of the 11 locations that have unionized since 2022.<\/p>\n REI has 195 stores across the U.S., employing about 14,000 people. Workers at a 12th store in San Diego are scheduled to vote on whether to join the union next week.<\/p>\n In North Berkeley, some shoppers entered the San Pablo Avenue store after declining flyers offered by workers in \u201cREI Union\u201d white T-shirts. Other customers chatted with the employees and their supporters, opting to leave without shopping.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was kind of a no-brainer. I wasn\u2019t going to cross the line and go in and buy,\u201d said Cristina Cano, a San Francisco public school teacher and union member who lives in Berkeley. \u201cI can buy whatever I need at another place.\u201d<\/p>\n In recent years, REI reported revenue of more than $3.5 billion annually, but also net losses of $311 million in\u00a02023<\/a>\u00a0and $156.4 million in\u00a02024<\/a>, even as it opened new stores. The co-op, which invests significantly in member rewards, nonprofit donations and employee incentives and retirement contributions,\u00a0posted<\/a>\u00a0a narrower net loss of $54.3 million in 2025, citing \u201cprogress toward profitability.\u201d<\/p>\n Workers supporting the boycott pushed aside concerns that it risks alienating customers beyond the 10-day sale event. As a consumer co-op, REI\u2019s 25 million members can make a difference in how the company approaches bargaining, they said.<\/p>\n \u201cREI\u2019s only tactic has been to delay and obfuscate and to make the process more difficult to convince us that we don\u2019t need a union,\u201d said Inkelas, who studies city planning and law at UC Berkeley and works part-time at REI, including as a cashier. \u201cI just want them to come back to the table and negotiate fairly with us.\u201d<\/p>\n The union said that company negotiators recently floated requiring the labor organization to make a $1 million charitable donation, and limit negative talk about the company \u2014 claims that REI said\u00a0misrepresented<\/a>\u00a0bargaining discussions that were ultimately not pursued.<\/p>\n Private-sector employees have a right to choose whether to organize and bargain collectively in the U.S. But labor experts said employers opposing a union can undermine those rights with little to no accountability, as federal law does not financially penalize violations.<\/p>\n Last year, investigators with the National Labor Relations Board\u00a0found evidence<\/a>\u00a0that REI illegally withheld wage raises and bonuses from hundreds of employees \u2014 while continuing to give the benefits to nonunion employees \u2014 to discourage union membership. The company reached\u00a0a settlement agreement\u00a0<\/a>on that complaint, paying impacted workers retroactive raises, in exchange for the union dropping dozens of unfair labor practice charges.<\/p>\n Samuel Wirt, a Berkeley REI employee who is part of the bargaining team, said workers can\u2019t accept offers of lower pay increases and fewer benefits when compared to nonunion stores.<\/p>\n \u201cThis could be hashed out tomorrow if they\u2019re willing to meet us on an offer that we can actually vote yes on,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not asking for the sun and the stars here. We want to be able to continue working here in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n