REI agreed to hold a union election vote on March 3 at its Beachwood, OH store following a hearing on Friday with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
The agreement includes all eligible workers at the store, “a reversal from REI’s position last week,” according to a statement from The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).
According to RWDSU, REI claimed that sales leads working at its stores are supervisors under the law and, therefore, cannot unionize. REI also reportedly maintained that its store’s shop section workers “do not share a community of interest” with the rest of the store’s retail associates and that certain workers are “casual” employees and should not vote.
RWDSU accused REI of putting forth “meritless assertions to delay the election,” while REI, in a statement, said that the NLRB hearing was “to ensure that all employees who hold the right to vote are included in the voting process.”
On January 11, employees at the REI store in Beachwood, OH, a suburb of Cleveland, filed to hold a union election and sought RWDSU representation following elections that resulted in the unionization at REI stores in Berkeley, CA and New York City’s SoHo neighborhood. In line with those stores, RWDSU said the Beachwood REI union would represent all non-supervisory employees. Beachwood’s unionization efforts have been ongoing for more than a year.
Beachwood workers held their brief unfair labor practice (ULP) strike Friday morning as an NLRB hearing got underway at the federal agency’s Cleveland office.
REI will hold the union election at its Beachwood, OH store from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm EST.
Photo courtesy REI Beachwood
