An Apple Store Votes to Unionize for the First Time

Apple retail employees have a union. Workers in Maryland voted 65 to 33 to join the International Association of Machinists and Aeronautical Workers. Employees were allowed to vote.

The workers made a huge sacrifice for thousands of Apple employees who had all eyes on the election. There is growing demand for unions at Apple stores and other industries.

The newly certified union said they were celebrating with them. We are going to organize tomorrow.

A diverse group of members include aircraft technicians and engineers, as well as nurses and social workers. Geniuses can be added to their roster. The Apple win is the most recent victory in a wave of unionizations at major corporations. In April, an Apple store in Atlanta became the first to file for an election with the Communications Workers of America, but withdrew its petition last month. Multiple unions are organizing at a number of stores.

75 percent of employees signed cards indicating they wanted to be represented by the union when it filed for an election, according to theIAM. The anti-union campaign was waged by Apple immediately after they became public. The company was able to pick off a few supporters but not enough to win the election.

Workers wanted a say in their working conditions. Corporate policy mandates seemed disconnected from the reality of their jobs, according to them. Many employees were not paid enough because of their workload and technical skills. The organizing committee member, who has worked at the store for seven years, says that the store was stressed out just before the Pandemic.

There was a group chat in February of 2020 about starting a union with coworkers but it didn't go very far. The store was temporarily closed and employees were sent to work from home. One of the employees mentioned that he had a friend at YogaWorks who had just unionized. They met David DiMaria at a coffee shop and talked about what they wanted to change. The leader of theIAM was DiMaria.

Some Apple Store employees were pushed to their breaking point by the experience of working through the Pandemic. Several employees at Apple contracted Covid-19 just before Christmas after the local government dropped its mask requirement. A story about an Apple worker in North Carolina who committed suicide after being harassed by his manager was the turning point according to him. The staff had a meeting to discuss the article. People shared their experiences of being harassed and being bullied by their bosses. Leadership responded by saying, "We hear you, absolutely." We are here to hear. The man says something. They swept it all under the rug after getting their brooms out.