The REI Union announced a boycott of the outdoor retailer’s Anniversary Sale, set to take place May 15 through 25, after contract negotiations concluded without a fair contract offer. Workers at the 11 unionized REI stores are taking this critical step with the backing of 70,000 REI Co-op members who have already pledged not to shop during the annual event if the company continued to bargain in bad faith.
“REI has refused to offer us a fair contract, despite our willingness to compromise, and instead has insisted on provisions that would prevent more workers from joining the REI Union and that would ban us from speaking out. Their anti-union stance is deeply incompatible with the values REI claims to profess. The company has left us no choice but to boycott,” said Alex Pollitt, a REI worker at the co-op’s Bellingham, Wash., store.
Jeff Rosemeyer, a REI worker at the co-op’s Castleton, Ind., store added, “Co-op members need to know that REI isn’t just anti-union – the co-op is accelerating its use of AI, pushing high-interest-rate store credit cards on shoppers, and cozying up to the Trump Administration. “All we want is a fair contract so we can be a part of putting REI back on the right path. I work here because of my love for the outdoors, but that love doesn’t pay the bills. Since the company won’t listen to us at the bargaining table, boycotting the Anniversary Sale is the only way to make them hear our demands.”
To educate shoppers about the boycott and the workplace issues REI workers are facing, local and regional staff throughout the country will be in front of the stores during the sale to help get the word out of the boycott.
The REI Union has a broad coalition of support for the boycott, which is unsurprising given the overwhelming solidarity displayed by members over the last several years, especially during the “Vote No” board campaign last year. After two union-backed candidates were prohibited candidacy in REI’s 2025 Board of Directors elections, the REI Union sent over 115,000 members to the company’s website to vote down the candidates.
In July 2025, REI and the union agreed to establish a national bargaining structure to reach collective bargaining agreements for the 11 unionized REI stores. As part of the agreement, REI provided wage increases and bonuses for the years 2022-2025 that the company previously withheld from workers at represented stores.
Since 2022, 11 REI stores have voted to unionize: SoHo, N.Y., Berkeley, Calif., Cleveland, Ohio, Chicago, Ill., Boston, Mass., Durham, N.C., Maple Grove, Minn., Bellingham, Wash., Castleton, Ind., Santa Cruz, Calif., and Greensboro, N.C., with a 12th store recently filing to unionize.
REI union members are represented by UFCW Locals 5, 663, 700, 1208, 1445, 3000, and the RWDSU.