REI Union Durham Hosts Powerful Community Rally To Celebrate Two-Year Anniversary

Durham Labor Choir, which includes REI Union Durham members, performed at the two-year anniversary rally. The video received more than 12,000 likes. Image credit: https://www.instagram.com/p/DJ60BviNbqZ/

This past Sunday, May 18, Durham REI workers hosted a rally outside their store in Southpoint to celebrate the two-year anniversary of their union election and the accomplishments REI workers have achieved through organizing. The rally included performances by the Durham Labor Choir and speeches from union workers and co-op member allies.

The rally comes on the heels of REI workers’ historic win in REI’s Board of Directors election. For the first time in REI’s history, the candidates the Board of Directors nominated to fill vacant seats were outright rejected by Co-op members. This means their corporate and hand-selected candidates cannot and will not serve on the Board. The win was the result of REI workers and Co-op members standing together to demand that REI be the progressive retailer it claims to be rather than continuing to stall negotiations and work with the same union busting law firm as Elon Musk.

Chris, a Sales Associate at REI Durham, said it best in his speech at the rally: “Public resources are under attack. Public lands are in danger of becoming mining or logging operations just driven by profit and short term gains. And the greatest tool against this greed is organized labor. REI believes itself to be a different kind of retailer. Think of what we can accomplish together - standing together against these attacks - if they bargained in good faith and saw us as partners rather than enemies.”

After the rally, attendees wrote letters to REI’s new CEO, Mary Beth Laughton, calling on her to change course and partner with her unionized employees to return the Co-op to its democratic and values-forward roots.

Missed the rally but want to support? You can write your own letter to Mary Beth here.