Posts Categorized: Retail

On May 15, about 80 workers at REI, Inc. in Boston joined UFCW Local 1445 for a better life.

UFCW Local 1445’s organizing win is a part of the national REI campaign, and the workers played a significant role in the effort to unionize. The 44 to 23 vote to unionize REI Boston was conducted by an NLRB election, and the workers received support in their efforts from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey.

UFCW Local 1445 will represent approximately 80 workers at the outdoor sports equipment company in contract negotiations. This bargaining unit is composed of all workers except the store management, despite REI’s attempt to carve out a handful of workers prior to the election.

“I am proud to welcome REI Fenway workers to our retail union family,” said UFCW Local 1445 President Fernando Lemus. “Now starts the long road of negotiating a fair contract. We hope that REI, which espouses ‘progressive values,’ agrees to bargain in good faith. We are ready to fight for every victory at the bargaining table and earn REI Workers the best contract we can.”

The REI store in Boston is the fifth organizing win for the national REI campaign. In addition to the new REI unit in Boston, the RWDSU/UFCW represents workers at the REI SoHo Co-op store in New York City, which was the first REI store in the country to become unionized, as well as the REI store in Cleveland, Ohio and the REI store in Chicago. UFCW Local 5 represents workers at the REI store in Berkeley, Calif.

Workers at the Bob’s Discount Furniture store in Shelby Township, Mich., joined UFCW Local 876 on April 20.

The 13 workers, who are employed as sales associates, joined our union family because they were concerned about treatment by management and job security and wanted a voice in the workplace. They also wanted the same benefits as their unionized Bob’s Discount Furniture colleagues in Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and New Hampshire, who are represented by UFCW Locals 328, 888, 919 and 1445.

UFCW Local 876’s campaign to organize these workers included in-person and group meetings and connecting the workers with organizers and workers from unionized Bob’s Discount Furniture stores so they could hear firsthand about the benefits of having a union voice in the workplace.

“What used to be Bob’s Discount Furniture is now Bain Capital’s Discount Furniture,” said George, a sales associate at the Shelby Township store. “This company wants to go public, which means they need to increase profit margins by cutting costs. We are the lifeblood of this entire organization. We deserve to be valued properly for the work we do and the profits we generate, and that’s why we decided to organize our store and fight to get back the original bonus program, increase our commission percentage, have consistent but flexible schedules, and keep Bain Capital from taking any more away from our livelihoods.”

“There are 169 Bob’s Discount Furniture stores and counting, 16 of which are unionized,” George added. “There is power in numbers. After all, we are stronger together!”