A group of store employees Manzana in USA announced the creation of a union after a majority voted in favor of the initiative, a first for the tech giant that comes after similar organizing drives by workers in starbucks Y Amazon.
“We did it! We won our union voteThanks to everyone who worked so hard and who supported us! Now we celebrate… Tomorrow we keep organizing,” the Coalition of Apple Retail Employees (AppleCORE) tweeted.
Of the 110 employees at the brand’s location in Towson, Maryland, 65 spoke in favor and 33 against, according to the count broadcast live by the federal agency in charge of supervising the count.
The new union and its consequences for Apple
A group of Apple employees organized to demand representation in salary decisions. Photo: Angel Garcia/Bloomberg.
Apple COREwhich organized the campaign to unionize and demand representation in decisions about wages, hours and security measures, must form a branch of the union International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) once the agency certifies the results
Saturday’s victory, after several unsuccessful attempts to unionize employees at an Apple store, comes after symbolic victories in recent months, which had the support of the president Joe Biden.
Last May, Apple’s director of distribution and human resources, Deirdre O’Brien, had appeared at the store.
“It is your right to join a union, but it is also your right not to join“, according to an audio excerpt released by the Vice site.
O’Brien had assured that the presence of an intermediary would complicate relations between Apple and its employees.
“I am concerned about what another organization in the midst of our relationship could mean, one that does not have a deep understanding of Apple or our business,” the directive had said.
The Californian group has not yet ruled on the results of the vote.
From Apple they claim to be concerned about the new main organization. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg.
The IAM union criticized the Silicon Valley giant’s efforts to discourage employees from voting to unionize.
“This victory shows the growing union demand in Apple stores and in different industries across the country,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr., celebrating the “courage” of the workers.
This vote came after other attempts were successful in achieving unionization within large companies in the United States.
The first was in December 2021, when the the creation of two unions in Starbucks locationsin the city of Buffalo, state of New York, and employees of more than 160 stores of the chain requested similar votes.
Another case is that of the employees of a New York Amazon store, who last April voted overwhelmingly for the creation of a union, the first of the group in the United States, but the company demanded the cancellation of that result and a second vote.
With information from agencies.
SL
