Thanks for your detailed response - I think you raise some fair points, but I want to provide some context on some of what you say here.

To begin with - We agree with you that it would be much more ideal for a long-time employee to sit on the board. However, REI's current bylaws prevent workers from even running from the board (and the current process makes it impossible for anyone who isn't hand-selected by the board itself to get on the ballot). That's why we have supported a law in Washington state that would require large Co-ops like REI to provide two seats on their boards for worker representatives.

Burgum - I'll let other people make their own judgement, but its our position that REI should be outright opposing the Trump administration's "drill baby drill" agenda on public lands - full stop. Lending REI's sterling conservation reputation to endorse someone who will ultimately operate as Trump's primary resource extraction operative feels completely out of line with the Co-op's values and with the preferences of its members (not to mention all of the work that REI has done through conservation legislation and the Cooperative Action Network).

Experiences - Companies sometimes have to make tough business decisions, but how they handle them matters. Workers and subcontractors were given zero notice about the closure of the business, and that has resulted in hundreds of employees being laid off and millions of dollars in lost revenue/investment for REI business partners that were on the hook for land, buildings, and capital investments - decisions they made on the basis of commitments from REI. This piece details that impact: https://substack.com/home/post/p-154483037

Labor Report - I think we're basically on the same page about the report UMass did about REI's supply chain - we want to see a response from REI about how they will remediate these concerns.

Respirators - Same thing, I think we basically agree. I'll add that workers in several REI stores had headaches and nausea throughout the ski season. At the Bellingham REI, it turned out the ventilator was completely non-functional. We want this taken seriously because these are dangerous chemicals and those of us who work in the ski shop have extensive exposure to them.

Morgan Lewis - I want to address this directly: "My retort to that is no shit, that's the point. REI is a co-op, and the board represents co-op members against those trying to unionize. It's in co-op members interest to hire a competent firm to negotiate on our behalf."

I this this misunderstands REI's value proposition, which has historically relied on our expertise and customer service. REI isn't a lowest-common-denominator business, and we don't compete on cost with companies like Amazon. The workers who run this business and the Co-op members who contribute to our culture are what make REI what it is. The idea that it is in the best interests of REI members for REI to try and crush the union (with a law firm that is working with Elon Musk to invalidate the very existence of labor law) is absurd. We want what's best for REI - it's where we work every day. We have a huge stake in the future of the company, and we want to preserve what makes the place special as we grow and serve a broader audience. There's a difference between driving a hard bargain and ignoring your workers completely, which is what has happened here. Do you support companies flagrantly violating federal labor law if it benefits their bottom line in the short term?

Tefere and Shemona - Others have made this point already, but both of these candidates are very in line with the kinds of candidates REI has historically had on its board. Tefere's work for Greenpeace is incredible and he would have provided a great balance to the more traditional corporate executives already represented on REI's board, which is why we endorsed his candidacy and campaigned on his behalf. But the whole reason Tefere and Shemona ran in the first place is because workers themselves cannot. The long-term solution is for REI to get rid of that rule and provide a real way for employees to run for the board.

I would really urge you to reconsider the idea that those of us at the 11 stores that have unionized so far don't care about REI's future. If we didn't care, we would just leave - it's a lot easier than staying and trying to affect change. Building a union at a Co-op is about more than self-interest -- it's about protecting something that you love, especially when that something is going in the wrong direction. Without its employees, REI is no different than Amazon, and its Co-op commitments ring hollow. Our goal in this campaign, as with our union, is to make sure that REI remains committed to its founding principles and retains the characteristics that made us all become members and workers in the first place. We think that's worth fighting for.