Minnesota REI Workers Are Aiming to Become the Retailer’s Next Unionized Store

Employees at an REI store in Maple Grove, Minn. have filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), becoming the latest location to embark on the unionization path.

The Maple Grove employees are seeking representation through The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW).

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“We’re coming together for an REI that lives up to its own values,” the group wrote in a tweet. “We want to enshrine fairness and respect at our store with a union contract: not just in how we deal with corporate and management, but also in access to wages and hours that let us live our lives with dignity.”

The workers are seeking voluntarily recognition from management for the union, which will focus on improving wages and scheduling, and a voice in determining working conditions.

“We need change, and I believe collectively is the way to do it. Together, we can get corporate to listen,” said Blake Buzzo, bike and ski mechanic and member of the REI Maple Grove organizing committee, in a statement.

REI said in a statement that it was informed about the Maple Grove employees’ intention to file for a union election.

“We will fully support the petition process and vote in Maple Grove — including the right of every employee to vote for or against union representation,” the company said.

Just last week , employees at an REI store in Chicago, Ill. voted in favor of unionizing their store, making it the fourth location to do so. Three other REI stores — one in Berkeley, Calif., one in New York City’s Soho neighborhood and one in Cleveland, Ohio— have unionized their stores since 2022 and others are following suit.

Stores in, Eugene, Ore., Boston Mass., and Durham, N.C. have also filed petitions for a union vote recently. Last week, Durham REI workers went on strike to protest management’s response to their unionization efforts as they push for higher wages, scheduling improvements, more workplace safety and job security adjustments.

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