San Diego REI votes to unionize. It's now the co-op's biggest union

San Diego workers at the Kearny Mesa REI store voted to unionize this week and become the largest organized store in the retail chain.

The union will now work to secure a contract with the Seattle area-based retailer. Workers said they are seeking higher pay, better scheduling practices and other benefits.

Workers were organized under the large United Food and Commercial Workers Union, or UFCW. The Kearny Mesa store becomes the 12th REI in the U.S. to unionize and, with roughly 119 workers, the largest.

“We're disappointed in this result but respect our employees' right to choose or not to choose union representation,” said a statement from an REI spokesperson on Friday. “We remain confident in what makes REI a great place to work - meaningful work, flexibility, and a shared commitment to our co-op values - and will continue listening, learning, and showing up for our employees across the co-op.”

The retailer does not release financial information for individual stores, but UFCW said it had access to detailed information through several union campaigns. The union said the 28,192-square-foot San Diego store generates the third-largest revenue of any store in the chain.

Juanpablo Contreras, a sales specialist at the San Diego store, said in a statement that the cost of living in America’s Finest City was a major factor in the vote. He has worked at the store for 12 years.

“Our decision was done out of love and concern for our friends and colleagues living out of their cars,” Contreras said, “because they aren't paid enough for rent.”

REI operates 195 stores across the nation and employs around 13,000 people. The first store to unionize was in Manhattan in 2022 and the movement has spread to other locations. Other California stores to unionize are in Berkeley and Santa Cruz. There is another San Diego County REI, in Carlsbad, that is nonunion.

Both the union and REI have accused each other of negotiating in bad faith as no contract has been approved after several years. Investigators at the National Labor Relations Board alleged last year that REI broke the law by withholding raises at unionized stores while giving raises to nonunionized stores. REI reached a settlement in the case that gave union workers retroactive pay raises.

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 12:14 PM.