'Green vest’ workers fight for union representation on REI board

Unionized REI employees are determined to have a seat at the table of the beloved outdoor gear company's board of directors.

Workers are backing a bill in Olympia that would require large consumer co-ops like REI to allow ordinary employees to run for seats on the board.

House Bill 1635 would require consumer cooperatives with 2,500 or more employees to allow rank-and-file workers to elect two non-supervisory employees to their boards. A consumer co-op is a business like REI or PCC that allows customers to become partial-owners, often called “members.”

The bill is currently in committee and working through the legislative process. In the meantime, REI labor organizers have also backed two environmental activists running for seats on the board — Greenpeace’s Tefere Gebre and Shemona Moreno, director of the environmental justice nonprofit 350 Seattle — to represent workers’ interests.

Over the past few years, eleven REI stores around the country have voted to unionize, including one in Bellingham, Washington. But none of the unionized stores has managed to secure a contract with the company.

REI has said in the past that it offers industry-leading wages and doesn’t see a union as the best vehicle to address employee concerns.

Employees at the Bellingham store disagree. They told KUOW they're fighting for better wages and more control over their schedules.

“I'm there to represent the workers at REI, the people in green vests, and being a voice that pushes REI to stop union busting, to listen to the needs of the workers, not just in the Bellingham store, but all of the stores and come to the table,” Moreno said.

The campaign for employee representation on the board comes amid financial difficulties at REI. The company has posted losses every year since 2021. REI recently shuttered Experiences, the organization that offered classes and tours, laying off about 400 employees in the process.

REI declined to be interviewed or comment on HB 1635. A company spokesperson said REI had no record of Moreno’s application, and that new board candidates will not be considered because the deadline to apply has passed. But screenshots shared with KUOW indicate Moreno submitted an application by the Oct. 10 deadline.

REI confirmed receiving Gebre’s self-nomination and said it “under consideration as part of the selection process.”

“REI has a chance to help lead the way to be a corporation that is truly living the values of what a co-op is, and especially in America right now, that's probably needed more than ever," Moreno said. "We need more visionary leaders to tell us we can build a better future. We can build something different.”