REI comes under fire for allegations of labour rights violations

Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) has become the subject of allegations surrounding “serious and pervasive violations of labour rights in the supply chain”. This is according to a new report by the Students for International Labor Solidarity (SILS) and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMASS), responding to complaints made by sources said to be associated with and working within factories REI works with.

Supplier factories linked to the US outdoor retailer and consumer cooperative are believed to be primarily situated in countries where human rights and labour rights violations are “rampant”, including in Cambodia, China, Philippines and Vietnam, the report claims. As such, there have been multiple complaints of poor working conditions and violations in more than a dozen of REI’s factories.

The report states that much of the practices cited violate REI’s Factory Code of Conduct, national law and international labour standards. An example outlined in the document references “forced overtime” at a facility in China making fabric for REI, at which it is claimed that a “third of the workforce reported such a relentless work schedule that most months they did not receive a single day off”.

Other alleged violations include the use of forced labour in Taiwan; subpoverty wages; discrimination against pregnant and postpartum women at an El Salvador apparel supplier; the use of “precarious” contracts, a case of which was reported on at a Philippines backpack manufacturer where REI is believed to have refused regular contracts for workers; and retaliation against workers speaking out against labour abuses.

REI’s work with Formosa and ‘Made in USA’ claims criticised

UMASS and SILS said that despite REI previously acknowledging widespread and “even worsening violations” over several years, the company has ceased reporting on levels and types of noncompliances found by auditors. The company is also believed to have “never reported on successfully securing any specific remedy” for such abuses or “effectively intervened in support of workers”, despite other individual buyers having done so.

The report further underlined an ongoing partnership between REI and material supplier Formosa, which was described as an “infamous corporate criminal” responsible for “releasing toxic chemicals into the sea”, among other concerning allegations. “Dozens of imprisoned journalists and environmental activists in Vietnam have lost many years of their lives simply because they tried to speak publicly about Formosa’s corporate malfeasance,” the report added.

UMASS and SILS further criticised REI for its misrepresentation of its production practices, noting that only three of out of the seven US-based entities disclosed in its Brands Factory List are actually factories–the others being corporate offices and research centres. Additionally, its “Made in the USA” webpage is said to have displayed a number of products that are not made in the US.

Despite the report’s length, both UMASS and SILS state that this was “merely the tip of a very large iceberg” in the way of REI’s alleged violations, and that it was “therefore reasonable to assume that the violations described in this report are only a small portion of the actual extent of labour abuses” in the company’s supply chain. It is yet to be seen how REI will respond to the allegations.