Beneath REI's Green Sheen: Union Bustin, Debt Bondage, and Partnership with Eco-Criminals

This report by the UMass Amherst Labor Center and Students for International Labor Solidarity was produced in response to complaints raised by workers concerning serious and pervasive violations of labor rights in the supply chain of REI, the largest specialty outdoor retailer and consumer cooperative in the United States. REI's CEO Eric Artz assures co-op members that REI is "a different kind of company… One where people care about each other as human beings," but what we find is that REI sources from factories in Asia and Central America characterized by serious systemic human rights abuses that warrant immediate attention. These abuses include forced labor, subpoverty wages, and intense retaliation against workers for attempts to unionize – all violations of REI's labor code. REI's supply chain workers face a high risk of exposure to egregious labor rights abuses with no reliable avenue for recourse or remedy.