REI SoHo Workers Walk Out in Protest of Pay Cuts

During the busy Saturday afternoon shopping rush, members of REI Union SoHo stopped work and walked off the job to protest REI’s decision to cut the wages of many members of the bargaining unit. ULP charges were filed regarding the wage cuts. Workers demanded that REI immediately return to the bargaining table and immediately reinstate the higher wages they earned before June 1, 2023. Notably, REI only denied the REI SoHo workers these higher wages, unlike workers at every other REI store in the country.

Since June, the REI Union SoHo Bargaining Committee has been negotiating over this issue with REI representatives and the company’s new legal counsel from the law firm Morgan Lewis, but has been continually stonewalled. REI Union SoHo has circulated a letter-writing campaign directed to REI leadership that has garnered over 5,000 signatures and built a sizable REI Union Hardship Fund to help fill the gap of workers’ lost wages amid growing inflation. Saturday’s walk-out was the latest escalation following a summer full of growing worker actions demanding the company restore SoHo workers’ pay, and bargain in good faith. Read more at gearjunkie.com and check out video of the walkout here!