REI has established itself as an outdoor store with a major focus on sustainability and progressive values. Many employees chose to work at REI because of these shared values, and when workers voted to unionize, they expected REI to voluntarily recognize their union and bargain with them in good faith. However, REI and its employees have not made any significant progress toward a collective bargaining contract. REI has stated that the company doesn’t believe employees need a union, because they have great wages and benefits compared to other companies in the industry, and have leadership in the company co-op structure. Unionized employees state that they want to receive greater financial stability and guaranteed minimum hours from REI.
See "REI workers voted to unionize and received unexpected resistance from the progressive company", Alina Selyukh, NPR, July 6, 2023