Apple store in Maryland sets date for union election
The location is the second Apple store holding a union election
Apple retail workers at the company's Towson Center store in Maryland will hold a union election June 15 after filing a petition with the National Labor Relations Board earlier this month.
The group, known as AppleCORE, or Coalition of Organized Retail Employees, revealed its intention to unionize in a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier this month. The workers told the Washington Post they want more input on decisions about pay, hours and coronavirus safety measures at the store.
"To be clear, the decision to form a union is about us as workers gaining access to rights that we do not currently have," the letter states.
"We are respectfully asking that Apple follow the same neutrality requirements as laid out by the Supplier Code of Conduct under the section "Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining" so that as employees we can obtain our rights to information and collective bargaining that the law affords us through unionization."
APPLE ACCUSED OF UNION BUSTING AT WORLD TRADE CENTER STORE
Apple's Towson Center location is the second Apple site set a date for a union election.
Apple retail workers at the company's Towson Center store in Maryland will hold a union election June 15 after filing a petition with the National Labor Relations Board earlier this month. (Apple)
Employees at Apple's Cumberland Mall store in Atlanta will hold a union vote June 2-4 after filing a petition with the NLRB in April. Workers at Apple's Grand Central Terminal store in New York City also started collecting signatures in April to file for a union election.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | APPLE INC. | 239.59 | +2.26 | +0.95% |
On Tuesday, the Communications Workers of America filed an unfair labor practice charge accusing Apple of violating the National Labor Relations Act by requiring workers at the Atlanta store to "listen to anti-union propaganda during mandatory ‘daily download’ meetings."
Two days later, the CWA filed a separate unfair labor practice charge that accused the tech giant of engaging in illegal activities at its World Trade Center store, including "interrogating staff, surveillance, restricting the posting of union fliers and requiring employees to attend mandatory anti-union speeches."
They also claimed that Apple's "overly broad, company-wide no solicitation policy" violates the National Labor Relations Act by discouraging employees from engaging in union activity.
The Apple logo is displayed on a smartphone with splintered glass March 5, 2018, in Berlin, Germany. (Photo llustration by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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An Apple spokesperson reiterated the company's previous statement that it is "fortunate to have incredible retail team members" and "deeply values everything they bring" to the company.
The tech giant touts "strong compensation and benefits for full-time and part-time employees," including health care, tuition reimbursement, new parental leave, paid family leave and annual stock grants. A company spokesperson previously told FOX Business that Apple has tens of thousands of retail workers who earn a minimum rate of $20 per hour.
Apple has over 500 retail locations worldwide, including more than 270 in the U.S.