Late last week, REI Co-op and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) disagreed on a contract to hold an election at REI’s Beachwood, OH store. As a result, a hearing with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) will be held on February 3 to determine the parameters of the election process.
On January 11, employees at the REI store in Beachwood, a suburb of Cleveland, filed to have 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.
In a news release Monday, the RWDSU said the hearing process could be a “lengthy distraction and delay, stifling workers’ voices, something workers did not have to endure during the prior two REI, Inc. union elections.” The union also said REI has “put forth meritless assertions to delay the election.”
The objections from REI, according to RWDSU, include a claim that sales leads at the store are supervisors under the law and, therefore, cannot unionize. REI also reportedly maintains that the 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.
The union also contends that bargaining contracts with workers at REI’s Berkley and Soho stores hold these same employee classifications.
“REI Inc.’s request to bar clearly eligible workers from voting for their union is union busting on its face,” said Stuart Appelbaum, RWDSU president. “And it’s nothing but a feeble attempt to delay the union election — period. It cannot be clearer that REI’s motion to remove previously eligible job classifications from this election only seeks to silence workers’ voices. And these are not just any workers’ voices. These are the voices of workers with the same job classifications who are already being heard at bargaining tables on both coasts. You cannot be in support of union elections and freedom of speech and then bar more than half of your workers from voting. Let the workers at REI in Ohio have the same opportunity you gave workers on the coasts. Let workers vote, and stop these baseless delay tactics.”
In response to the developments, REI provided SGB Media with the following statement, “REI Co-op is fully participating in the procedural process with the National Labor Relations Board, the government authority that regulates the entire process of petitioning to form a union. Last week we responded to routine procedural questions from the NLRB that will help them determine which employees are included in the bargaining unit.
” The February 3 hearing was set by the NLRB immediately after the RWDSU petitioned the NLRB for an election at our Cleveland store to determine if the parties could move forward with an election. This is a routine step in the petition process, and we will continue to participate fully in this process.
“Cleveland is its own store with its own unique circumstances, and we are working with the NLRB to determine the parameters of Cleveland’s election process. The RWDSU petitioned to represent Cleveland employees who should not be part of the bargaining unit because they perform supervisory duties. The union also petitioned to represent employees whose sporadic or irregular employment pattern qualifies them as “casuals” under the NLRB’s eligibility standards, and these employees are normally excluded from a bargaining unit.
“The NLRB considers each unique working environment when deciding election matters. REI and RWDSU will have an opportunity to address Cleveland on Friday, February 3. As requested by the NLRB, REI will answer questions on which employees should or should not be a part of the election process.
” We will support the right of all non-supervisory sales employees to have a voice in this decision.”
Photo courtesy REI Beachwood, OH
