By Comrade Lynn

CHICAGO – On May 18 at 10:00 AM, workers the REI in Lincoln Park walked out on strike for a second time in 2024. The previous strike was an attempt to win back merit raises which were withheld from unionized stores in an attempt to bust the union; this strike was a response to the company’s unwillingness to negotiate with the union in order to form a contract. REI claims that it prides itself on being a “progressive” workplace; however, many workers feel that REI’s actions have betrayed this policy of faux “progressivism”.

When asked about whether REI is living up to the standards of “progressivism” Adam, an employee at REI for two years, replied “I don’t think so. In the past, there were institutions in the stores to have committees of people who would have these social conversations and it really has felt that over the past two years that those have been – across the board – neglected.” He also mentioned that REI had promised “there were a lot of routes to get to work in different aspects, to get to work in different experiences, and opportunities to be more than just a single role,” and that “time and time again they have not delivered on that.”

REI has demonstrated that it is uninterested in the wellness of its workers and that it only cares about one thing: profits. As class-conscious individuals, it is important to not lose sight of the systems at play. The main purpose of capitalist enterprise is to extract profits from the worker’s labor, but it is this very exploitative relationship which gives rise to one of the main methods at the disposal of the workers: the strike. One worker, Maj, noted that one of the greatest powers of workers is to withhold labor power, “we need to show them that striking is on the table as long as they wont bargain with us,” he added.

A coordinated strike is no easy feat however, as it requires a significant amount of unity and solidarity between the unionized workers. One newer worker, Iris, said that she was out at the picket line because she wanted to support her coworkers; furthermore, she mentioned that she hadn’t even been scheduled to work that day, “I want to show them that I’m willing to be a team player,” she said.

Nevertheless, while the strike demonstrates a high level of unity and solidarity between the workers of one particular shop or industry, it is the Communist Party, centered around the basis of genuine Marxism, which represents the highest unity and solidarity of the workers – not merely as groups of workers but as a whole class. It is for this reason that communist-sympathetic organizations within the so-called united states must work to build this organism representing the highest level of unity of the workers. Without this organ, a system which overthrows a system of exploitation will never come to fruition. It is the job of every individual with a Marxist consciousness to consolidate the advanced around Marxism, raise the intermediate’s consciousness, and win over the backwards.