1st Apple Store to Unionize Will Also Be 1st to Strike

Union votes to authorize a strike against Apple's retail operations at Maryland location
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 13, 2024 12:00 AM CDT
1st Apple Store to Unionize Will Also Be 1st to Strike
FILE - People walk by an Apple store Oct. 20, 2023, in Denver.   (AP Photo/Brittany Peterson, File)

It was the first Apple Store to unionize, and now it will be the first Apple Store to strike. Employees at the Towson, Maryland, Apple Store, located in the suburbs of Baltimore, voted Saturday night to authorize a strike against Apple's retail operations, according to a statement from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers' Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE), which represents the workers. Workers at the store voted almost 2-to-1 to unionize back in June 2022, the AP reports. Also Saturday, an Apple Store in New Jersey voted against unionizing, CNN reports. (To date, just two Apple Stores have unionized, though other efforts are underway.)

At the Maryland store, the union says it has engaged in more than a year of contract negotiations with Apple management over issues including what they refer to as "unpredictable" scheduling practices at the store, plus wages that don't "align with the area's cost of living." The union says negotiations resulted in "unsatisfactory outcomes." No date has been set for the strike. "We deeply value our team members and we're proud to provide them with industry leading compensation and exceptional benefits," Apple says in a statement. "As always, we will engage with the union representing our team in Towson respectfully and in good faith." (More Apple stories.)

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