University Accuses Retailer REI of Supply Chain Violations

The report, "Beneath REI's Green Sheen Union Busting, Debt Bondage, and Partnership with Eco-Criminals," alleges that REI's supplier factories in Cambodia, China, El Salvador, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam engage in practices such as forced labor, forced overtime, wages below poverty level, and worker intimidation. The violations have been "widespread" and "worsening" over a period of several years, the report said.

The report also alleges that, although REI has conducted internal supply chain audits and compared those findings against its "Factory Code of Conduct," which REI established in 1993 to define standards in workplace conduct for factories manufacturing its products, the retailer has not conducted adequate remediation efforts. Rather, the report suggests that REI relies on the efforts of outside brands taking action against the same suppliers.

REI "frequently shifts production from factory to factory," a practice that can occur in industries involved in light manufacturing, the report said. However, this practice contributes to "a high level of precarity for workers, downward pressure on wages [and] a rise in workers' rights violations," the report alleges.

While the report "did not find any documented exposure for REI's private label products" for products made in the Uyghur Autonomous Region in China, "five brands sold by REI -- Adidas, Nike, Columbia Sportswear, Patagonia, VF Corporation (owner of The North Face) -- have been publicly identified as having a high risk of selling products tainted with Uyghur forced labor," the report authors said.

Supplier factories where alleged forced labor violations or extremely low wages might have occurred at some point include the Textiles Opico factory and the Youngone in El Salvador; PT Holi Karya Sakti in Indonesia; the Joint Force Sporting Goods factory and XDS Bicycle and Peace Glory Factory in Cambodia; Giant Manufacturing in Taichung, Taiwan; the Fulgent Sun Footwear factory in Vietnam; and Dong Guan Best Paciûc Textile in China. Other supplier factories in the Philippines, Indonesia, El Savador and Cambodia may have suppressed workers from unionizing or they may have conducted worker intimidation, the report said.

Report authors said their sources included shipping records of REI's imports into the U.S. from the Import Genius database, supplier factory lists publicly disclosed by REI between December 2016 and October 2024, REI's impact reports from 2006 to 2023, foreign news reports, online forum and social media testimonies, and reports from human rights organizations and labor rights watchdogs.

In a statement responding to the report, REI said: "We operate a large, complex global supply chain and are deeply committed to holding all our supply partners to the highest standards of accountability. When possible issues arise, as they sometimes do in such an intricate network, we act swiftly and decisively to address them and ensure alignment with our values and expectations. We are also engaged in advocacy efforts aimed at preventing any of these practices at a systemic level."

The retailer confirmed that it has a Factory Code of Conduct that "establishes standards of workplace conduct for the factories that manufacture the products we sell."

REI also said it's an active member of several labor organizations to ensure best practices, although the report alleges that some of these multi-stakeholder initiatives have come under scrutiny.

The Labor Center is affiliated with the university's College of Social & Behavioral Sciences. Students for International Labor Solidarity was included as a report collaborator.

U.K.-based Business & Human Rights Centre reported on the report's release on Jan. 2.