Apple has successfully reached an initial collective bargaining agreement with the first unionized company store in the United States.
On Friday evening, the International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ Coalition of Organized Retail Employees,
representing employees at a retail location in Maryland, announced the
establishment of a three-year contract with the company. This agreement entails
an average pay increase of 10% and the provision of additional benefits to the
employees.
The approval of the agreement requires the consent of
approximately 85 employees working at the store situated in the Baltimore
suburb of Towson. A voting session has been scheduled for August 6th
“By reaching a tentative agreement with Apple, we are giving
our members a voice in their futures and a strong first step toward further
gains,” the union’s negotiating committee said in a statement. “Together, we
can build on this success in store after store.”
Apple has not yet responded to our request for comment.
The deal came after workers at the store authorized a strike
in May, saying talks with management for more than a year hadn’t yielded
“satisfactory outcomes.”
The Maryland store Is one of only two unionized Apple
locations in the nation. Employees there voted in favor of the union in June
2022, a few months before workers at a second Apple location in Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma, unionized with the Communications Workers of America. The second
store has yet to secure a contract with the technology company.
In recent years, labor unions have achieved significant
electoral victories, notably at an Amazon warehouse in New York City, a
Chipotle store in Michigan, and numerous Starbucks locations nationwide.
However, many of these unions have yet to secure formal contracts.