The First Unionized Apple Retail Shop in the US will be in Towson Town Center
Employees at the Apple Store in Towson Town Center, Maryland, have chosen to unionize. Workers
voted "overwhelmingly" in favor of joining the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, according to the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees, the organization that spearheaded the unionization push (IAM). The store is now on pace to become the first unionized Apple retail outlet in the US thanks to the historic decision.
Towson, we succeeded! We won the union vote! Many thanks to everyone who contributed and worked so hard! With @machinistsunion, we are now celebrating. We continue planning for tomorrow.
Acoreunion (@acoreunion), June 19, 2022, "#unionizeapple #1u"
After workers at a different retail site in Atlanta withdrew their petition to hold a union ballot last month, Towson Town Center became the first Apple Store in the US to hold a union election. Apple hasn't publicly stated that it
opposes its frontline employees organizing, but the business has frequently been charged with using measures to break up unions.
According to reports, it subjected employees to
alleged "captive audience meetings" and hired the same anti-union law firm as Starbucks. A union vote at the company's Cumberland Mall site in Georgia was canceled by organizers due to allegations of intimidation. In a statement made prior to the vote today, AppleCore stated that it was
organizing because it had a "strong love of our job as employees within the firm and out of compassion for the company itself."
Apple opted not to respond.
Following the vote, IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. issued a statement in which he said, "I commend the fortitude demonstrated by
CORE members at the Apple store in Towson for accomplishing this historic victory."
"They made a significant sacrifice for the thousands of Apple workers across the country who were watching this election closely. I request
Apple CEO Tim Cook to expedite a first contract for the devoted IAM CORE Apple employees in Towson in order to respect the outcome of the election. This result demonstrates the rising demand for unions across the nation and in Apple stores.
However, if recent history has taught us anything, it's that a domino effect isn't always inevitable. In the near term, today's decision is likely to support continuing unionization attempts at two Apple Stores in
New York and
Kentucky. The
Amazon Labor Union succeeded in securing a historic labor victory for employees at
Amazon's JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island in April, but failed to do so at a different facility one month later.
