REI’s Labor Fight Is a Test of Co-op Trust

Context and Disclosure

I have been an REI member since 1989. REI is also an affiliate merchant partner of Backpacking Light, which means Backpacking Light may earn revenue when readers purchase from REI through affiliate links. We have a business interest in REI’s continued success.

That relationship does not remove our responsibility to scrutinize REI’s conduct when its decisions affect workers, members, and the broader outdoor community. Consumer advocacy is one of Backpacking Light’s core values. Many Backpacking Light members are also REI members, and both organizations ask for members’ trust. Since we facilitate commercial transactions between REI and our members, we feel a responsibility to ensure our members have as much transparency and insight as possible into the conduct of the affiliate merchants we recommend and represent, including REI.

This article is not an attempt to adjudicate the labor dispute between REI and the REI Union. It is a document-based analysis of what the available record supports, what remains disputed, and what REI members cannot yet verify from public statements alone.

A Labor Dispute Becomes a Trust Problem

REI says it is making difficult financial decisions to protect the long-term health of the co-op. The REI Union says the company is using financial pressure as cover for bargaining conduct that the union alleges is unlawful, including deeper cuts at union stores.

The available record supports parts of both accounts. It proves neither in full.

REI’s financial pressure is documented. The co-op reported a $54.3 million net loss in 2025, following a $156.4 million loss in 2024 (Recreational Equipment, Inc., 2026a). But REI was not without liquidity. It ended 2025 with $380.4 million in cash and cash equivalents and $158.8 million in short-term investments, for a combined cash and short-term investment position of about $539.2 million (Recreational Equipment, Inc., 2026a). REI also had no outstanding borrowings under its $300 million credit agreement at year-end (Recreational Equipment, Inc., 2026a).

The benefit changes are documented in REI’s own materials. REI’s Mid-Year Total Rewards Update confirms changes to retirement contributions, vacation accrual, sick leave, vacation cashout, holiday pay for part-time employees, and starting hourly rates for new hires (Recreational Equipment, Inc., 2026b).

From the perspective of an REI Member, I feel a little bit in the dark. The problem is less about the issues being debated (most of these issues, whether related to co-op financial health or labor rights, are worth debating). Instead, the problem is what each side asks members to accept beyond the facts we have access to today.

The union’s public campaign sometimes compresses unresolved legal claims, worker-impact estimates, and arguments about motive into language that sounds more settled than the record allows. REI’s public statements do something similar from the other direction, presenting its position as “straightforward facts” while leaving important questions unanswered.

This is not only a labor dispute. For REI members, it is a trust dispute: whether a member-owned co-op has provided enough evidence for workers and members to evaluate whether its bargaining strategy, benefit changes, and public messaging are necessary, lawful, and consistent with co-op values.

Source Note and Limits of This Report

This report is based on REI’s public newsroom statements, REI’s audited 2025 financial statements, REI’s 2026 financial results and impact report announcement, REI’s Mid-Year Total Rewards Update provided by the REI Union and authorized for quotation, written responses attributable to the REI Union, public-record NLRB complaint materials, and background bargaining and legal documents provided by the union but not authorized for quotation or reproduction.

REI was asked for comment and directed Backpacking Light to two public newsroom statements: one addressing bargaining status and the union’s planned boycott, and another titled “Some Straightforward Facts About REI Co-op’s Union Negotiations.” In those statements, REI says it bargained in good faith, remains ready to negotiate, and lawfully implemented certain economic terms after impasse (Recreational Equipment, Inc., 2026c; Recreational Equipment, Inc., 2026d).

The REI Union provided written responses attributable to the union, along with supporting documents. Some documents were provided as background and are not quoted directly here. Those documents informed the reporting but are not reproduced or distributed. Public-record materials and documents authorized for quotation are cited directly where used.

Several material questions remain unresolved because neither side has publicly disclosed all bargaining proposals, projected savings, complete worker-impact data, or a final legal adjudication of the current impasse dispute.