Towson Apple Store Employees Organize Union
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Employees at the Apple store in Towson Town Center have formed a union, hoping to negotiate over issues such as pay, coronavirus safety and hours.
In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook dated Tuesday, organizers said they had a majority of support from the staff at the Towson location and asked the company to voluntarily recognize the bargaining unit.
"As our store approaches its 20th year anniversary we think about the history of this company and how we have always been different; because we have always thought differently," they wrote. "Today we are asking you to do the same and to pledge not to use your resources to engage in an anti-union campaign to dissuade us."
The Coalition of Organized Retail Employees, as the group is known, has received assistance from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
In interviews with The Washington Post, nine employees at the Towson Town Center Apple store said the scheduling system, which is run by a corporate office in Austin, Texas, makes it hard to achieve work-life balance, and the company has been slow to increase wages.
"The pandemic made people who work on the front lines kind of realize what they're worth," Kevin Gallagher, a seven-year employee at the Towson location, told the Post. "More money is nice, but it's really about agency."
According to the report, the Towson location is the third of the tech giant's stores to launch a union campaign.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WJZ. A company spokesperson told the newspaper: ""We are fortunate to have incredible retail team members and we deeply value everything they bring to Apple. We are pleased to 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."
