Workers at an Apple Store in Maryland have voted to unite to form the tech giant’s first retail union in the United States. Shop workers in Towson passed the scale of 65-33 with more than a dozen abstinence.
After the results were out, the group tweeted: “Now we celebrate… Tomorrow we will keep organizing.” This is the third Apple Store to launch Union Drive this year but the first to successfully vote.
The new Apple Core union – short for the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees – penned an open letter to Apple in May, saying its bid was “about us as workers gaining access to rights that we do not currently have” but that it did not want to “go against or create conflict with our management”.
Other Apple stores in Atlanta and New York have also moved toward unionisation. Staff in Atlanta, however, have delayed their planned ballot, with the union involved – the Communications Workers of America – alleging anti-union activity by the company.
Unions are less common in the US than in many European countries but are still protected by law. In forming one, either the company voluntarily recognizes a partnership or the employees collect signatures from at least 30% of the employees so that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) can hold a formal election.
News outlets have alleged that Apple hired a law firm known for its union expertise and matched “talking points” for its management teams to prevent employees from signing up for one.
In April, Motherboard released an audio recording of retail vice president Deirdre O’Brien telling employees that while they recognized their right to join a union, “it is equally your right not to join a union.” have the right”.
“I am concerned about what it would mean to have another organization in the middle of our relationship, an organization that doesn’t have a deep understanding of Apple or our business,” the released audio said.
Towson’s employees were supported by a long-established union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Its president, Robert Martinez Jr., congratulated Apple employees on the “historic victory”.
