REI union agreement
Union members at REI won a major victory when REI Co-op, the outdoor recreational gear specialty store, agreed to the demand to establish a national bargaining structure for the 11 unionized REI stores. The REI bargaining committee hailed the agreement as “a tremendous step forward in negotiating a first contract.”
Workers at the 11 REI stores are represented by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Locals 5, 663, 700, 1208, 1445 and 3000 and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) Locals 379 and 1102. First to unionize was the Soho store in New York City, followed by the store in Berkeley, California, in 2022. (workers.org/2022/07/65251/)
The other union REI stores are located in Bellingham, Washington, Boston; Castleton, Indiana; Chicago; Cleveland; Durham and Greensboro, North Carolina; Maple Grove, Minnesota and Santa Cruz, California.
REI union workers rally outside New York City store. (Photo: RWDSU)
At the end of 2024, the Soho ski-shop workers won concessions from their bosses after a 54-day strike over the store’s removal of personal protective equipment (PPE) necessary to prevent workers from inhaling noxious gases during ski reconditioning. The ski shop workers returned to work after REI’s national headquarters agreed to restore PPE and allow an air quality inspection by an independent agency.
The union agreed to suspend the Unfair Labor Practice charge it had filed with the NLRB over the PPE controversy as part of this latest round of negotiations. REI owners agreed to provide retroactive wage increases and bonuses for the years 2022 to 2024 that the company previously unjustly withheld at unionized stores. (workers.org/2022/07/65251/; workers.org/2024/12/82660/)
Museum union celebrates achievements
The workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art are celebrating five years since they won their election to unionize. The Philadelphia Museum Union has since successfully negotiated two contract agreements with the world-renowned art museum.
Over the five years, union organizers have expanded unionization of museum workers throughout the city as Philly Cultural Workers United, which has chapters at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Independence Seaport Museum, Please Touch Museum, Schuykill Center and University of Pennsylvania Museum. They are continuing to organize nationally through the AFSCME Cultural Workers United campaign.
Cleveland Rising Star baristas organize
Baristas all around the U.S., inspired by Starbucks workers, have been trying to unionize local coffee shops where they live. Unionizing efforts have begun at the Rising Star Coffee store in Lakewood, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Rising Star is a local chain with six stores and a roastery in Greater Cleveland.
Workers united around safety issues, including carbon monoxide fumes that led workers to seek medical attention, a broken carbon monoxide detector and rodent infestation. After presenting a list of demands to store management, the workers decided they needed to form a union. Rising Star Workers Union, not yet affiliated with a national union, has thousands of followers on its Instagram page.
Union organizers called on supporters to join a “sip-in” on Aug. 3. They were surprised to see over 200 people lining up at the store, planning to order coffee. When Rising Star bosses attempted to close the store, workers and customers struggled to keep it open, at which point management called Lakewood police.
With the help of the cops, the store was forcibly closed and has remained closed since the sip-in. Two workers have been fired and six suspended pending an investigation. The eight sat outside the closed store on Aug. 4, handing out free coffee and talking to customers.
Pro-union workers at the Lakewood store have connected with supportive workers at the chain’s other five stores and the roastery.
Martha Grevatt contributed to this article.