The Co-op Illusion: REI, Union-Busting, and the Fight for Workers' Rights

In episode 22 of Art of Citizenry Podcast, we’re opting outside by centering REI’s labor fight. Manpreet is joined by Emma Harris, a bike and ski shop technician at REI’s SoHo store in New York City. As a member of REI Union SoHo, she serves as an elected member of the union bargaining committee and is part of the store’s Contract Action Team. REI SoHo was the first REI store to unionize. Since 2022, REI employees across the country have been organizing, demanding that the company live up to the values it so proudly markets. Together, we pull back the progressive corporate veil and unpack the ways in which REI has been undermining its mission and worker power through union busting tactics. We also discuss the role of unions and the challenges workers face when they come together to organize. This episode looks at the history of unions in the United States and the important function they serve in ensuring worker rights.