If successful, this group would be the first Apple Store to unionize.
Yesterday, a large coalition of employees working at an Apple Store at the Cumberland Mall in Atlanta, Georgia voted for a union election. This is the first major step toward unionization for this location, a movement that has seen overwhelming support by the majority of the store’s employees. Roughly 70% of the staff have signed union authorization cards with the Communications Workers of America, which has agreed to represent them.
“Apple is a profoundly positive place to work, but we know that the company can better live up to their ideals and so we’re excited to be joining together with our coworkers to bring Apple to the negotiating table and make this an even better place to work,” Apple Store Genius Bar worker Derrick Bowles said in a statement released by the CWA.
The CWA have not released a precise list of the budding union’s demand, but have said that “retail workers at Apple provide critical sales and repair services to a range of customers, yet have been denied a living wage, cost of living adjustments or equitable stock options.”
Workers at an Apple store in Atlanta have filed to unionize — becoming the first retail employees for the tech giant to do so in the nation.https://t.co/yLM9odPJF7
— NPR (@NPR) April 21, 2022
In a statement to CNN, Apple stressed that they already offer “very strong compensation and benefits for full time and part time employees, including health care, tuition reimbursement, new parental leave, paid family leave, annual stock grants and many other benefits.”