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The Apple Store at Towson Town Center Mall: The union representing the store’s workers and Apple have reached a tentative labor agreement, the tech giant’s first U.S. labor contract.
New York CNN —
Apple Inc. and the union representing retail workers at its Towson, Maryland, store agreed to a tentative labor agreement late Friday, the first of its kind in the U.S. to cover all of the tech giant’s U.S. employees, not just Apple Stores.
Workers at the Apple store in Towson have been seeking their first contract since voting to join the International Machinists Union in June 2022. In May, they voted to authorize a strike without giving a deadline.
The agreement must be approved by a vote of the store’s 85 rank-and-file members before it can take effect, a significant milestone. Other high-profile unionization efforts, including at Starbucks and Amazon, have yet to reach agreements for their workers, even though workers at those companies voted to unionize long before workers at an Apple store in Maryland.
Once a new union is recognized by the National Labor Relations Board, the government agency that oversees labor relations at most U.S. companies, there aren’t many legal requirements forcing the company to enter into a collective agreement with the union. But the process can take a long time, as a recent Bloomberg Law study found that the average time it takes to get a first contract is 465 days, or about 15 months. In many cases, it can take even longer. Another academic study in 2023 found that 43% of new unions are still seeking their first contract two years after winning representation elections.
The machinists’ union said the Apple Store contract includes improved work schedules to improve work-life balance, a key issue in negotiations. The contract also includes job protections, such as guaranteed severance pay for laid-off workers and limits on contract workers, as well as a 10% wage increase over the three-year term of the contract.
“Our tentative agreement with Apple gives our members a say in their future and marks a strong first step towards further gains,” the union said in a statement, adding that it would now seek the right to represent retail workers in other stores.
“Together, we can build on this success, store by store, and expand the power (the union) began here in Maryland,” the union said.
Apple operates about 270 Apple Stores in the U.S., all of which it owns. Only one, in Oklahoma City, has voted to unionize and join a separate union, the Communications Workers of America. That store is not covered by the tentative collective bargaining agreement.
An Apple spokesperson declined to comment to CNN about this week’s tentative agreement, but in an earlier statement the company said, “We care deeply about our team members and are proud to offer them industry-leading compensation and excellent benefits.”
