REI: An Impasse, the Anniversary Sale Boycott, and Two Strategic Bets Colliding in Real Time.
REI didn’t stall at the bargaining table. It made a sequence of deliberate moves, and the union responded with one of its own.
Here is what happened. After months of national bargaining and tentative agreement on 25 items with the UFCW and RWDSU locals representing its 11 unionized stores, REI presented a last, best, and final offer in January. On February 4, workers voted to reject it nearly unanimously. According to the union, the deal fell apart because REI refused to offer unionized workers wages on the same level as their non-union counterparts. Both sides returned to the table later that month. After that session ended without a deal, REI declared impasse and began implementing the economic terms of its final offer unilaterally. The union disputed the declaration and filed claims with an arbitrator. Within weeks, the REI union members voted to boycott the REI Anniversary Sale, the co-op’s biggest revenue event of the year, and set up a website asking REI co-op members to support the boycott as well. A final call on the boycott vote is expected by May 1.
The Business Calculus
REI has posted consecutive net losses: $311 million in 2023, $156 million in 2024, on revenue down 6% to $3.53 billion. CEO Mary Beth Laughton, who took over in March 2025, has been blunt internally. In a memo obtained by KNKX, she said the company is still spending more than it brings in. The changes being implemented reflect that pressure: lower starting wages for new hires, slower vacation accrual, retirement shifted from guaranteed contributions to a match, and sick leave dropped to state minimums.
The Bet REI Is Making
Under the NLRA, impasse lets an employer implement its final offer without a union agreement. It is the only moment in bargaining where that is legal. But if the NLRB later finds the impasse was premature, every implemented change becomes an unfair labor practice. The employer does not just lose the argument. It hands the union both a remedy and a narrative weapon. That question will determine whether REI’s cuts survive. An REI spokesperson said they disagree with the union’s characterization of events.
“We’re waiting on the UFCW to make any counterproposal that might restart talks, given the current impasse that was reached after REI made a last, best, and final offer in January.”
The Bet the Union Is Making
UFCW and RWDSU are not trying to win this at the table. There is no table at the moment. They are shifting the fight to brand pressure and consumer loyalty. The boycott would cover all REI locations and its website for the ten days before Memorial Day, targeting the co-op’s peak sales window. The union points to the 2025 board election as proof their audience is listening: after urging members to reject management’s nominees, over 115,000 co-op members voted, and none of REI’s candidates won. Political support from King County officials and a congressional endorsement adds another layer.
Why This One Matters
This is a live test of two questions that matter well beyond REI.
Can an employer use impasse to force movement in a first-contract fight without triggering a backlash that costs more than the savings?
And can a union replace traditional strike leverage with consumer pressure in retail, where the customer base is sympathetic?
REI built its brand on progressive values. That reputation is now the surface on which the union is running its pressure campaign.
Both models have vulnerabilities. If the boycott does not affect revenue, the union has spent its most powerful escalation tool for nothing. If it does, REI’s marquee sales event becomes an annual liability. And if the impasse does not hold legally, REI will have to unwind every cut while explaining why it made them on a legal argument it lost.
