(NEW YORK CITY) - During the middle of REI’s annual anniversary sale that was held last week, Members of REI Union SoHo - represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), rallied in protest of REI’s failure to bargain a contract in good faith.

Joined by RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum, New York City AFL-CIO Central Labor Council President Vincent Alvarez, a host of New York City Elected Officials and Workers from across New York’s Labor Movement, REI SoHo Workers demanded REI agree to reach a fair contract by the end of 2024.

REI’s highly profitable annual anniversary sale runs from May 17th through today, the 27th.

While the company stands to potentially bring in millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue, their Workers continue to struggle to make rent, buy groceries and commute to their low paying, sometimes unsafe jobs.

Workers face a litany of other issues at the SoHo Store that they are hoping to remedy in contract negotiations, which began back in June 2022.

The Worker-led Bargaining Committee has met 10 times at the table since the company changed to new attorneys from the notoriously Anti-Union Law Firm, Morgan Lewis, LLP in June 2023, which is a significant departure from the slightly more productive 24 sessions they had the year before with prior attorneys.

The mind boggling 34 sessions have yielded little in the way of significant tentative agreements between the parties, Union Officials said.

Workers at REI Union SoHo, who were withheld routine merit and other pay increases by the company, are one of 10 Unionized Stores across the country where contract negotiations remain similarly stalled.

Workers have gone the longest without necessary pay increases, having been denied across the board pay hikes for Non-Union REI Workers since they organized back in March 2022.

REI SoHo Senior Sales Specialist and Bargaining Committee Member Steve Buckley said: “As a proud green vest, I don't take this action lightly.  When my Co-Workers elected me to our Bargaining Committee, I never thought we'd still be fighting for a first contract two years later.  I took our demand to settle a fair contract to REI's Headquarters and now I'm here taking it to the streets of Soho.  We call on REI to end their bad faith bargaining tactics, stop their unlawful behavior and commit to settling our contract this year.”

For More On This Labor News Report, Go To: REI UNION SOHO WORKERS RALLY WITH LABOR GROUPS & CO-OP MEMBERS OUTSIDE FLAGSHIP NYC STORE DEMANDING THAT REI REACH A UNION CONTRACT BY END OF 2024 AMID COMPANY’S LARGEST ANNUAL SALE — Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU)

Photo Courtesy Of The RWDSU.