‘Over the moon’: Bellingham REI becomes first Washington state store to unionize

Rachel Showalter
·2 min read

Bellingham REI employees voted on Friday, June 9, in an overwhelming majority (40-12), to form a union and join UFCW Local 3000.

The store’s employees announced on May 1 that the workers filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), citing the need for reliable scheduling and fair treatment as the main reasons for unionization.

“I feel over the moon,” said Bellingham REI sales specialist Johnny Cook, in a release announcing the vote. “This process has brought me closer to my coworkers, it’s given me a sense of pride and joy in the way that I work, and it is just so exciting to me to see everyone hugging each other and everyone celebrating. I feel like as a workforce we’re going to be stronger together.”

In an email to The Bellingham Herald on Friday, REI Co-op said that while the results would not be final until the election is certified, REI is committed to the right of every eligible employee to vote for or against union representation.

“We look forward to engaging in good faith negotiations with the employees’ elected representative once the results are certified. Together, as always, we’ll continue to focus on serving the outdoor communities in Maple Grove and Bellingham,” REI Co-op said.

Bellingham REI sales specialist Phoebe Aguiar said in the release that the vote was affirming.

“Also, to actually see REI act in good faith during the vote count and do some things that I agree with and that we were nervous about also just means this was the right thing to do,” Aguiar said. “This process works, it worked for us, and we made it work — it wasn’t unstressful, but overall it was positive. I’m excited to see what we can do as a collective to bring dignity and power back to our workplace.”

Bellingham is the first REI location in Washington state to unionize. The REI in Maple Grove, Minnesota also voted to unionize on Friday, making Bellingham and Maple Grove the seventh and eighth REI stores to organize in just more than one year. REI workers in New York City, Berkeley, Cleveland, Chicago, Boston, and Durham have all previously voted to unionize.

UFCW Local 3000 represents more than 50,000 employees working in retail, grocery, healthcare, cannabis, food processing and other industries across Washington, Northeast Oregon, and Northern Idaho.

UFCW Local 3000 is a member of UFCW International, representing more than 1 million workers in North America.

The Bellingham REI is located at 400 36th St.