BERKELEY, Calif. (Outside Business Journal) — Employees of the REI's store here are seeking to unionize, just four months after the company's Manhattan, N.Y., location passed a vote to do the same in March.
The Berkeley location opened in 1975 — the first REI store to open outside of Washington state.
A petition seeking to hold a vote to unionize was filed June 21 on behalf of an organizing committee of REI Berkeley employees. The organizing committee days earlier sent a letter to REI management requesting that REI voluntarily recognize the committee's effort to seek union representation. That letter, signed by 12 employees, stated that the unionizing effort has the backing of a "strong majority" of Berkeley employees.
"We want to be a part of developing the agreements that impact every aspect of our working lives," the letter states. "We don't just want to be heard—we want to be active stewards of our store alongside you." The letter suggests that unionization would be in keeping with REI's progressive company culture.
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