In a rare turnaround last week, REI Co-op CEO Mary Beth Laughton apologized for what she said was the outdoor retailer’s “mistake” of supporting Doug Burgum’s nomination as Secretary of the Interior.
Laughton is relatively new in the role. She joined REI on March 31, more than a month after Burgum’s appointment to the Department of the Interior’s top post. The letter of endorsement by the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable to Utah Republican Mike Lee and Nevada Democrat Martin Heinrich, chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, respectively, was written and signed by more than 30 organizations in January.
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Striking a conciliatory posture in an Instagram video, Laughton began by saying that America’s public lands were under attack, “from the gutting of National Park staff to expanded threats of drilling or even selling off of our public lands.” She said she also had to address something “head on:” REI’s support for the former North Dakota governor, who has, among other things, proposed using federal land to build more affordable housing and doubled down on coal production.
Saying that the Washington State-based company did so to “have a seat at the table” to continue its advocacy of outdoor recreation, Laughton said that she has heard the voices of frustration and disappointment that have followed. It’s because of this, she added, that REI wished to rescind its signature.
“Let me be clear,” Laughton said. “Signing that letter was a mistake. The actions that the administration has taken on public lands are completely at odds with the long-standing values of REI. I’m here today to apologize to our members on behalf of REI, to retract our endorsement of Doug Burgum and to take full accountability for how we move forward.”
Together with Conservation Alliance, Patagonia, Osprey and other partners, REI is launching a new public coalition called Brands for Public Lands that is calling for more transparency from the Department of the Interior and the intervention of Congress to ensure a period of public consultation happens before the sale of federal lands.
A representative from the Interior Department said that Burgum “remains committed to conserving and managing the nation’s natural and cultural resources, upholding tribal trust responsibilities and overseeing public lands and waters for the benefit of all Americans.”
Still, REI’s former support for Burgum was only one impediment to better relations with its members, including the union representing employees in 11 of its 180 stores across the country, the most recent of which is in Greensboro, N.C. To date, not one has been able to arrive at a contract with the company.
While the union, which is backed by the larger Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, has largely chalked up Laughton’s admission as a win, Neil Caughlan, who works at REI’s SoHo store in New York City, said that his immediate reaction was that it was “too little too late—the damage has been done, the nomination confirmed and the trust eroded between REI and their members.” And while he still believes in that initial sentiment, it also isn’t lost on him that the new CEO’s first public action is to distance herself from the actions of the old one. “It’s a small step in the right direction,” Caughlan added.
Then again, the retailer could also have broken more than trust. It was only last month that the National Labor Relations Board, the independent federal agency that adjudicates labor disputes, issued a complaint finding that REI had broken multiple laws by withholding merit raises and the annual bonuses known as “summit pay” from workers at its unionized outlets since they began bargaining. A hearing is scheduled for December.
“Our store has been going for two years now without any merit raises,” Caughlan said. “It’s been three years now for summit pay that we haven’t gotten. I myself have been with the co-op for six years. I am the lowest-paid employee in my department, despite other employees being there for at least half the time. You know, trying to raise a kid in New York City is hard enough.”
But REI said there’s nothing to “withhold” because it’s actively negotiating pay and benefits with the union and, therefore, has not implemented any pay changes.
“Federal law requires us to bargain in good faith on all aspects of the employment agreement, including pay and benefits, rather than making unilateral changes,” a spokesperson said. “REI has always negotiated—and will continue to negotiate—in good faith with stores that have chosen union representation.”
Caughlan begs to differ. Management, he said, hasn’t come back to the table since the NLRB’s announcement. He has taken to growing a beard in between negotiation sessions, once every 40 to 50 days, to provide a visual representation of how long it’s been—“you know, what’s the beard update?” he said.
The union’s next priority is calling on the co-op’s members to vote “withhold” in REI’s board of directors election, now underway, and “reject” the “out of control” corporate candidates that are neither pro-labor nor pro-climate.
“We want them to actually live up to what they say they stand for,” Caughlan said of what he described as REI’s downward trajectory, which has included the elimination of its “experiences” division of guided trips and outdoor classes, the removal of protective equipment such as respirators from stores, and the alleged use of exploited labor at factories in Southeast and East Asia and Central America linked with debt bondage, sub-poverty wages and discrimination. REI, a spokesperson said, “condemns all forms of worker exploitation” and takes swift action to address them.
“They talk about how much they care about the environment and the people that work for them; they tout themselves as a different kind of company,” Caughlan said. “And it’s just a shame to hear that they’re just as bad as any other company at this point.”
But there’s still time for another U-turn: Laughton, for one, could live up to the words in the video—the aforementioned “full accountability for how we move forward,“ for instance—by agreeing to a contract.
“I was sorry that Mary Beth wasn’t able to make it to the SoHo store during her nationwide tour leading up to taking the CEO role, but I look forward to seeing her at the bargaining table in the future,” Caughlan said. “It would be nice to finally have a decision maker from the company there.”
