Labor Board Finds Apple Withholding Benefits From Its Only Unionized Store

Apple seems bent on refusing to recognize the legitimacy of its first unionized store. The National Regulations Labor Board (NLRB) filed a complaint against Apple for allegedly violating US labor laws.

Furthermore, Apple appears to be “punishing” its Towson employees for unionizing by improving health and education benefits for all Apple Store workers in the nation except those in Towson, Maryland, who organized as the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (CORE) in 2022. They joined the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), and together, they wrote a letter to Apple’s CEO Tim Cook regarding their reason for unionization.

In the letter, the cause for unionization was for workers of the Apple store to get access to rights to information and collective bargaining. The workers also asked Apple not to use its resources to stop the unionization. Despite this request, Apple reportedly attempted to union-bust the workers and actively discouraged them from unionizing.

In the end, the unionization efforts won out, but that doesn’t mean that Apple necessarily approves of this win, given its historical significance for retail workers and Apple employees. Many other retail workers from large corporations started filing petitions to unionize after the victory of these Apple store employees. More Apple store employees from other locations also expressed their desire to unionize.

Negotiations in 2023 for the first contract between the tech giant and its Towson retail employees reportedly slowed and soured. The union has been updating the status of each of its proposals on Twitter, but Apple has been dragging its feet in these negotiations. The only win these workers are looking forward to at the moment is the establishment of a Healthy and Safety Committee.

The NLRB’s complaint against Apple, about the denial of benefit improvements, isn’t a final judgment, and if there’s not a settlement before then, there will be a hearing on February 20, 2024.

(featured image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)