Employees at an Apple retailer in Towson, Maryland — the primary US retailer to unionize — have approved a strike.
Workers voted “overwhelmingly” in favor of permitting a strike, their retail labor union stated in a assertion on Saturday.
The problems “embrace issues over work-life steadiness, unpredictable scheduling practices disrupting private lives, and wages failing to align with the realm’s price of dwelling,” the assertion stated.
The employees voted to unionize in June 2022 and have been negotiating with Apple’s administration since January 2023. Their previous proposals for Apple have included extra time without work and the introduction of a tipping system. Saturday’s assertion didn’t embrace details about what specifics the union is at the moment negotiating over with Apple.
No date has been set for the strike, the union stated.
The workers on the Towson retailer organized because the Coalition of Organized Retail Workers in 2022 after they voted to be represented by the Worldwide Affiliation of Machinists & Aerospace Employees.
About 100 Towson Apple retailer staff belong to the union, which additionally represents 600,000 employees from firms like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and United Airways.
Apple didn’t instantly reply to Enterprise Insider’s request for remark despatched exterior common working hours.
In a press release to the Related Press, the tech big stated: “We deeply worth our group members and we’re proud to offer them with business main compensation and distinctive advantages.”
The tech firm is dealing with labor-related points on the Maryland retailer and elsewhere.
Final yr, the Nationwide Labor Relations Board filed a criticism on behalf of the Towson employees, which alleged Apple denied advantages to employees on the retailer.
Apple’s Towson retailer is one in all two within the US which have efficiently unionized. A retailer in Oklahoma Metropolis joined the Communications Employees of America union in October 2022. An Apple retailer in New Jersey voted towards unionizing on Saturday.
Final week, the Nationwide Labor Evaluate Board discovered that Apple illegally interrogated employees over pro-union actions at a New York Metropolis location. In December 2022, the NLRB stated Apple violated labor legislation at its Atlanta location, the place it interrogated employees and compelled them to attend anti-union conferences, per the NLRB.
Different American retail giants’ workers at varied shops have additionally unionized lately, together with Starbucks and Amazon. Workers at each firms have gone on strike prior to now to protest unfair working situations.
