Green Vests at REI’s Kearny Mesa store have voted to unionize, turning one of the co-op’s busiest locations into its largest organized shop and the 12th REI store in the country to join the REI Union. The vote brings roughly 119 employees under the banner of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 135 and moves bargaining from a single-store fight to the national framework the two sides set up last year. It is the latest twist in a multi-year standoff between REI and organizing workers that has already featured National Labor Relations Board complaints and calls for boycotts.
UFCW Local 135 announced the result today, celebrating that more than 100 REI Green Vests voted to join the local and pledging to chase higher pay, more predictable schedules and stronger workplace protections. UFCW Local 135 also labeled Kearny Mesa the largest unionized REI store to date and said members will now turn to the hard part: negotiating a first contract with the outdoor giant.
The Kearny Mesa shop, which union and local officials say employs about 119 people and covers roughly 28,192 square feet, is one of REI’s top-performing locations and pulls in some of the highest sales in the chain. As reported by Times of San Diego, the size and sales volume make the union's win especially significant and could give workers extra leverage at the bargaining table. REI, for its part, notes that it operates about 195 stores nationwide, highlighting how unusually large the San Diego location is within the co-op’s footprint, according to company figures posted by REI Newsroom.
Why Workers Organized
Workers say this fight is about more than who sells you your next tent. Employees pointed to pay, unpredictable scheduling and San Diego’s brutal cost of living, along with a desire to see REI live up to its own feel-good branding.
In comments shared with local reporters, Juan Pablo Contreras, a sales specialist at the store, said the vote was “done out of love and concern for our friends and colleagues living out of their cars, because they aren’t paid enough for rent,” as quoted by Times of San Diego. Organizers also cited slow-moving negotiations at other unionized REI locations as a warning sign, arguing that Kearny Mesa workers needed their own seat at a national table that, in their view, has not delivered fast results elsewhere.
Company Response And Bargaining
REI says it is still willing to bargain, while taking a swipe at outside pressure campaigns that have dogged the co-op since the first stores voted to unionize. In company statements and a newsroom post, leadership has stressed that it prefers to resolve disputes at the bargaining table and has repeatedly pointed to the national framework set up with unions last year. Union leaders counter that REI has not always lived up to that rhetoric, accusing the company of withholding pay and benefits from some organized stores and of dragging out talks.
Both sides insist they are negotiating in good faith, even as they trade shots over tactics and timelines. For a sense of how each camp is framing the fight, see reporting by The San Diego Union-Tribune on their public statements.
Legal Backdrop
Behind the scenes, federal labor investigators have already taken issue with how REI has handled union stores. The National Labor Relations Board has alleged that the company illegally excluded unionized employees from certain raises and bonuses, a set of complaints that helped push the parties toward a 2025 agreement, including retroactive pay for some workers. KQED reviewed the NLRB findings and the payouts that followed, laying out the legal terrain that will quietly shape both sides’ opening positions.
What’s Next
With the vote in and certification expected, contract talks for Kearny Mesa will shift into the national process that REI and its unions agreed to last year. UFCW Local 135 says members now plan to push for a first agreement that locks in gains in pay, scheduling, and workplace protections, while REI continues to publicly emphasize quiet, table-focused negotiations rather than public pressure campaigns.
The San Diego outcome will be closely watched by workers and managers far beyond Kearny Mesa. As the co-op’s biggest union store steps into national bargaining, its experience is likely to influence talks at other organized locations and shape how UFCW approaches any future REI organizing drives.
