[ad_1]
TOWSON, Md. — A union said that Apple store employees in a Baltimore suburb voted to unionize by about 2 to 1 on Saturday, joining increasing pressure from the US retail, service and tech industries to organize for greater workplace protection.
Apple retail workers in Towson, Maryland, voted 65-33 to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, according to the union’s announcement. The vote was not immediately approved by the National Labor Relations Board, which had to approve the result. An NLRB spokesperson directed initial questions about the vote to the board’s district office, which closed late Saturday.
Apple declined to comment on Saturday’s development, company spokesman Josh Lipton told The Associated Press by phone.
Union organizing in various fields has recently gained momentum after decades of declines in US union membership. Organizers have worked to form unions at companies such as Amazon, Starbucks, Google’s parent company Alphabet, and outdoor retailer REI.
The International Association of Machinists and Aviation Workers and Apple employees who want to join said they notified Apple CEO Tim Cook last month that they are trying to form a union. The statement said their driving motivation was to seek “rights we don’t currently have”. He added that workers have recently organized into the Organized Retail Employees Coalition, or CORE.
IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “I applaud the bravery of CORE members to achieve this historic victory at the Apple store in Towson,” he said in a statement. “They made a great sacrifice for the thousands of Apple employees across the country who are all eyes on this election.”
Martinez urged Apple to respect the election results and allow unionized employees to step up efforts to sign a contract at the Towson location.
It remains unclear what steps will follow the vote in Towson. Labor experts say it’s common for employers to prolong the bargaining process to dampen the momentum of union campaigns.
IAM is one of the largest and most diverse industrial unions in North America, representing approximately 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, rail, mass transit, healthcare, automotive and other industries.
Apple store unionization stands against the backdrop of other laborers organizing across the country—some of which have been rejected.
Amazon workers at a warehouse in New York City voted to unionize in April, the first successful US organizing effort in the retail giant’s history. But workers at another Amazon warehouse in Staten Island overwhelmingly rejected a union offer last month. Meanwhile, Starbucks workers at dozens of US stores have voted to unionize in recent months, after the coffee chain’s two stores in Buffalo, New York, voted to unionize late last year.
Many unionization efforts have been led by young workers in their 20s and even younger ages. A group of Google engineers and other employees formed the Alphabet Workers Union last year, which represents nearly 800 Google employees and is led by five people under 35.
[ad_2]
Source link