Workers at REI store in Manhattan seek to form retailer’s only union

NEW YORK — Employees at an REI store in Manhattan filed for a union election Friday, making the outdoor equipment and apparel retailer the latest prominent service-industry employer whose workers have sought to unionize.

Amazon employees in Bessemer, Alabama, rejected a union in an election last year, though the National Labor Relations Board later threw out the result, citing improprieties on the part of the company, and ordered a new election to begin next month.

In December, workers at two Starbucks stores in Buffalo, New York, voted to unionize, making them the only company-owned Starbucks locations in the country with a union. Employees at about 20 other Starbucks have since filed for union elections.

The filing at the REI store in SoHo asked the labor board for an election involving about 115 employees, who are seeking to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, the same union that has overseen the union campaign at the Amazon warehouse in Alabama.

In addition to filing for the election, the REI employees have asked for voluntary recognition of their union, which would make a vote unnecessary.

Like Starbucks, REI, a consumer cooperative made up of customers who buy lifetime memberships for $20, cultivates a progressive image. REI’s website says that the cooperative believes in “putting purpose before profits” and that it invests more than 70% of its profits “back into the outdoor community” through initiatives like dividends to members and employee profit-sharing.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, some REI employees have criticized the retailer over what they say are insufficient safety protocols, including a lack of transparency over which employees have tested positive for COVID and a decision to relax its masking policy. The retailer has said that it follows relevant guidance from state and federal health authorities, but it has adjusted some policies as it faced criticism.