Employees arrange an Apple iPhone as a customer shop in the Apple Store.
Mike Seger | Reuters
Employees Apple The store in Towson, Maryland resolved to join the union on Saturday. This is an important achievement for organized labor. The Tawson Store is the first integrated Apple Store in the United States.
The vote is a defeat for Apple, which has opposed the union’s efforts, and could invigorate workers at other retailers in the company to promote organization.
The total was 65 votes in favor and 33 votes against. Approximately 110 employees were eligible to vote for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Voting began on Wednesday and continued until Saturday night.
“I did it in Towson! I won the union vote! Thanks to everyone who worked hard and everyone who supported me!” Towson organizer Tweet..
The National Labor Relations Commission still needs to prove the vote. It can take about a week. According to NLRB, Apple will need to negotiate working conditions with the union after the vote is approved.
The Tawson store is not one of Apple’s so-called “flagship stores” in the busy areas of big cities. It’s a small place in the mall.
As soon as the workers announced plans to unite, the store caught the attention of Apple’s management. Deirdre O’Brien, Head of Retail and HR at Apple, visited the site in May. A Recorded message from O’Brien After the union’s impetus became public and discouraged retail workers from joining the union, it was distributed to employees. She said the union was not committed to employees of the company.
Workers are asking for more information about wages and working conditions, such as how the store handles Covid’s safety and other operations.
“For clarity, the decision to form a union is about us that workers will have access to rights that we don’t currently have,” said Towson organizer. I wrote in a letter To Tim Cook, Apple CEO.
The Tawson Store is one of several Apple locations that publicly announced Union Drive, and other retail organizers in other locations are closely watching the results. The locations of two high-traffic stores in New York, the Grand Central Terminal and the World Trade Center, show that they are integrated, but have not yet reached the stage of formal voting.
An election was scheduled for earlier this month at a store in Atlanta, Georgia, but was postponed indefinitely after the US Communications Workers’ Union heard Apple’s allegations. Threatened employees.. Stores in Louisville, Kentucky and Nashville, Tennessee are also in the process of being organized. According to NBC News..
The Tawson Store’s Apple retailers are unlikely to jeopardize Apple’s core business model of selling devices and services. While the Apple Store is an important channel for selling products, Apple also sells through its websites and retail partners such as carriers. Apple’s workforce per hour is less than any other company currently facing Union drive wavesLike Amazon and Starbucks.
Apple is one of the most profitable companies in the world. Global sales in 2021 will exceed $ 365 billion, with US retail employees earning at least $ 22 an hour.
