The tech giant has not voluntarily recognized the store’s proposed union, said DiMaria, of the machinists union, which represents about 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, railroad, transit, health care, automotive and other industries. “With the rise of inflation, it’s kind of hard paying student loans and bills and groceries every week,” he said. Milligan, a 24-year-old Towson resident, said he would like to see a union focus on compensation, as well. Because he has family members with immune problem, he worried at the time about the store opening prematurely. The store closed and reopened several times amid waves of COVID-19 in 2020, and some store workers got sick. He began to see the need for another layer of worker protection during the pandemic, he said. He said he is in favor of unionizing the store “just to make sure everyone is compensated correctly, making sure everyone is cared for correctly.” The Towson employees are scheduled to vote in person between June 15 and June 18.Īt his full-time job at the Towson Apple store, Julian Milligan not only helps customers make purchases but also works on iPhone and Mac device repairs and helps customers troubleshoot their Apple products. But the company has asked for the result to be cancelled and a second vote to be held.Two other Apple stores, one in Atlanta and one in New York City’s Grand Central Station, have launched similar unionization efforts.Īpple workers in Atlanta requested an election through the National Labor Relations Board, and workers at the Towson store became the second to seek an election earlier this month. At Amazon, employees at a New York warehouse surprised everyone in early April by voting overwhelmingly to form a union, a first for the online retail colossus in the United States. After a union was formed at two Starbucks coffee shops in December in the northern city of Buffalo, employees at more than 160 of the chain’s locations have filed for similar votes. Unions, on the decline for decades, have won several symbolic victories in the United States in recent months, with President Joe Biden voicing his support. The Silicon Valley giant told AFP it was “declining to comment” on the news. “If you’re faced with that decision, I want to encourage you to consult a wide range of people and sources to understand what it could be like to work at Apple under a collective bargaining agreement.” She said that the presence of an intermediary would complicate relations between Apple and its employees. “I want to start out by saying it’s your right to join a union, but it’s equally your right not to join a union,” O’Brien said, according to audio published by Vice. Apple’s director of distribution and human resources, Deirdre O’Brien, visited the shop in May to address employees. “This victory shows the growing demand for unions at Apple stores and different industries across our nation.” It was not the first time employees at an Apple store have tried to unionize, but it was the first attempt that resulted in a vote. I ask Apple CEO Tim Cook to respect the election results and fast-track a first contract for the dedicated IAM CORE Apple employees in Towson,” he said in a statement. IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr said he applauded the workers’ “courage.” “They made a huge sacrifice for thousands of Apple employees across the nation who had all eyes on this election. Saturday’s result means that the shop’s employees, who have been voting since Wednesday, should form their own branch of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union, once the agency has certified the results. They are demanding a say in deciding on wages, hours and safety measures. “We did it Towson! We won our union vote! Thanks to all who worked so hard and all who supported! Now we celebrate… Tomorrow we keep organizing,” AppleCORE tweeted. The vote comes after a group of employees called AppleCORE (Coalition of Organized Retail Employees) campaigned for unionization. Of the 110 employees at the Towson, Maryland shop, 65 voted in favor and 33 against, according to a live count broadcast Saturday by the federal agency overseeing the vote. SAN FRANCISCO: A majority of employees at a US Apple store have voted to form a union, a first for the tech giant, which has so far tried to discourage unionizing attempts.
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