2022 has seen some of the most prominent companies grow in fear of worker activism, especially after Amazon and Starbucks employees started forming unions. It seems that Apple has witnessed a crack with workers in Maryland voting to form one of their own.
In Towson, Maryland, Apple employees are set to vote on Wednesday for a union election. The voting will occur in person at a vacant store in the Towson Town Center, where the Apple Store they work at is located.
The National Labor Relations Board announced that the polls would be open for voting between Wednesday to Saturday at selected times, with the vote count to happen on Saturday evening.
Organizers have dubbed their union the Apple Coalition of Organized Retail Employees or AppleCORE. The organization also has the support of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers trade union.
AppleCore is not the first attempt at a union push. In Atlanta, organizers sought a union election but withdrew their petition in April. Meanwhile, the Apple store at New York’s Grand Central Terminal has been witnessing employees collect more signatures to file a petition to unionize.
In May, the AppleCORE group wrote an open letter to CEO Tim Cook, revealing its decision was about them as workers gaining access to rights they currently don’t have.
A worker-organizer spoke with the Washington Post and revealed that he had been working at the Towson store for seven years and that the unionization was to get them a seat at the table.
“More money is nice,” he said. “But it’s really about agency.”
Meanwhile, Apple has reiterated the benefits and compensation it offers retail workers in a statement.
“We are fortunate to have incredible retail team members, and we deeply value everything they bring to Apple,” the statement wrote. “We are pleased to offer very strong compensation and benefits for full time and part time employees, including health care,tuition reimbursement, new parental leave, paid family leave, annual stock grants, and many other benefits.”
When reports came out of organizing pushes at Apple stores, the company shared it would raise the minimum starting to $22 an hour for workers in the United States.
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