REI workers from stores around the country showed up uninvited at their corporate office in Issaquah, Washington, last Friday. The signs they were carrying made it clear to the white-collar employees looking down from the windows above that they weren’t there to tour the campus.“Ask me about my raise ” read another.― would have been surprised to see disaffected employees protesting such a beloved retailer.
The company has denied those allegations and said it’s serious about reaching agreements with all the union shops. “There’s a large gap between what REI tells the members and what REI is actually doing that we see as employees,” said Sihua Chang, 31, a sales specialist in the Durham store. “Way more REI members are starting to hear about our working conditions.”needed to survive in the backcountry. The list includes “navigation” , “shelter” and a “repair kit” .“I thought they strive toward this progressive image, this idea that our workers are our lifeblood….
“It’s been pretty shocking, actually,” Preddie said. “I thought they strive toward this progressive image, this idea that our workers are our lifeblood…. To see this campaign against workers has been a stark reality change.”