Apple Workers at Maryland Store Vote to Unionize, a First in the U.S.

Apple employees at a Baltimore-area store have voted to unionize, making it the first of the company's 270-plus stores in the United States to do so.

The result, announced on Saturday by the National Labor Relations Board, gives a foothold for a budding movement among Apple retail employees who want a greater voice over wages. Union leaders say that employees of more than two dozen Apple stores are interested in unionizing.

In the election, 65 employees at Apple's store in Maryland voted in favor of being represented by the union, while 33 voted against. It will be a part of the International Association of Machinists and Aeronautical Workers.

Robert Martinez Jr., president ofIAM International, applauded the courage displayed by CORE members at the Apple store in Towson. Thousands of Apple employees across the nation had all eyes on the election.

The result is a blow to Apple's argument that it pays more than other retailers and provides more benefits. Last month, it increased starting wages for retail employees to $22 an hour, from $20, and released a video of O'Brien, who leads Apple retail, warning employees that joining a union could hurt the company's business.

Apple's anti-union campaign was "nasty" and management told workers that unions once prevented Black employees from joining their ranks, according to employees in a video before the union vote. The store was thanked by Ms. O'Brien in the weeks before the vote.

Employees said that their managers began to encourage them to speak up in meetings and come up with solutions to their problems. Eric Brown, an employee active in the union effort, said that they started to pull employees into one-on-one meetings where managers would highlight the cost of union dues.

The vote is used to level the score between the two parties. After Apple increased wages and highlighted the benefits it offered, employees at a store in Atlanta abandoned a planned election to unionize. The National Labor Relations Board has been accused by the union organizers in Atlanta of requiring workers to listen to anti-union messages. The board doesn't know if the charge is merited.

A vote to organize at a store in Buffalo helped spur other stores to file for union elections at Starbucks. According to the N.L.R.B., more than 150 of the company's corporate-owned stores in the U.S. have voted to unionize since December.

William Gould is a law professor and author of "For Labor to build upon: Wars, Depression and Pandemic." Many are watching to see if workers succeed. They will band together. It will encourage other workers to take a step towards collective bargaining if the answer is yes.

Apple employees are organizing at two stores, one in New York and the other in Kentucky. Stores are trying to build support before asking for an election. The election in Atlanta will be revived in the future, according to organizers.