Union supporters delivered a strong message to REI this week when the cooperative’s members rejected a batch of candidates for its board of administrators.
The prevailing board had hand-picked three nominees for the poll, passing over a pair of union-backed challengers who known as for pro-worker voices on the board. The union responded with a “vote no” marketing campaign that urged members to shoot down the board’s most well-liked candidates as too “corporate” and missing a dedication to union rights.
That marketing campaign succeeded, with REI asserting at its annual assembly Thursday that not one of the candidates had garnered sufficient assist to safe a seat. The failed trio included two incumbents who have been up for reelection to the board.
“We are disappointed with the outcome, especially because we are losing two incumbent directors who have been valuable contributors to the co-op for a number of years and one promising new director,” the board’s chair, Chris Carr, mentioned in a press release.
“We are all feeling pretty elated that the results have shown members are engaged and they do care what happens to employees here.”
– Megan Shan, REI employee
An REI spokesperson advised HuffPost the corporate doesn’t launch the complete voting outcomes, for the reason that final result “is the primary issue.” However the union claimed it prompted greater than 100,000 members to vote in opposition to the candidates, which might have led to a convincing rejection.
Megan Shan, a union member and worker at REI’s Durham, North Carolia, retailer, mentioned her co-workers have been “psyched” concerning the final result.
“We are all feeling pretty elated that the results have shown members are engaged and they do care what happens to employees here,” mentioned Shan. “This is a good sign that people are watching what REI is doing with regard to our union effort and contract negotiations.”
REI is structured as a member-owned cooperative reasonably than a conventional company. However for years, members and staff have alleged REI has misplaced its approach as a co-op and now operates like several profit-hungry retailer. They usually level to the truth that the present board will get to decide on who finally ends up on the poll for board elections, a gatekeeping characteristic that may stifle dissenting voices.
Spencer Platt by way of Getty Photos
However the union marketing campaign has tried to problem the board’s grip on REI’s course.
The United Meals and Industrial Staff and their sister union, the Retail, Wholesale and Division Retailer Union, have organized 11 of REI’s roughly 180 shops since 2022. The corporate has pushed again in opposition to the unionization effort, prompting a slew of unfair labor apply allegations and tainting REI’s status as a progressive retailer.
As HuffPost reported in January, union supporters have been stumping for two pro-labor candidates to get on the board: Shemona Moreno, a Seattle-based local weather activist, and Tefere Gebre, a former AFL-CIO executive-turned-Greenpeace USA official. The present board rejected each for the poll, choosing candidates who weren’t open union supporters.
The union marketing campaign took a victory lap on Thursday, saying all of REI’s “unopposed, corporate-backed candidates” had been shot down by members. It mentioned in a press release that the turnout was “likely” the best REI had ever seen for a board vote.
REI board members usually serve three-year phrases. In line with the co-op’s by-laws, the board will get to decide on board members to serve within the three vacant seats, although solely till subsequent 12 months’s election.
“Moving forward, REI should stop union busting, negotiate a fair contract with organized workers, and fill the vacancies on the board with the candidates that members backed initially,” the union mentioned.
