- Apple retail workers across the country are unionizing in places like New York and Atlanta.
- Internal and external challenges to organizing have made the future of Apple’s unions uncertain.
- Labor experts and retail workers told Insider what the future of unions at Apple could look like.
Apple workers across the country are organizing amid a wave of unionization at Apple retail stores. But months after Atlanta’s first store and a host of others announced plans to unionize, only one location has managed to hold a union election.
Workers have had a year of first unionization at big companies, but their efforts have yielded varying success in an industry that typically suffers from high employee turnover and strong anti-union sentiment at the management level. . More than 50 storefronts of the famous Starbucks coffee chain have unionized, and the momentum continues to build in stores across the country. Meanwhile, a long-awaited wave of unionization at Amazon warehouses has failed to expand beyond a successful union vote on Staten Island.
At Apple, union sentiments within stores are mixed, according to current and former Apple Grand Central employees. Apple retail workers also face unique barriers to organizing, such as anti-union sentiment and above-average retail pay, which can discourage workers from unionizing. These hurdles place the fate of Apple store unions in uncertain limbo. The future of Apple’s unionization will depend on two factors: the level of employee engagement and the lengths Apple executives put in to stop the efforts.
The union victory at Maryland’s Apple Store is a positive sign for the movement, but it won’t be enough to sustain efforts indefinitely, said Eric Dirnbach, head of research for the International Union of Workers of America. North (LIUNA). More employees must not only join the fight, but also lead it. However, this may be difficult given the polarized opinions among Apple workers on unionization.
“Organizing in retail is very difficult to do, not only because of the usual anti-union behavior by management, but also because of the high turnover rate and the fact that retail workers often don’t consider themselves not as committed to their long-term work,” Dirnbach told Insider.
Conflicting feelings within the same store
big central station
Apple
Apple Grand Central became the second store to publicly announce its unionization efforts in early 2022. Despite its early efforts, it sees mixed internal feelings about Apple store unionization.
A former Apple Grand Central employee who knows first-hand the union’s current organizing process said he was living paycheck to paycheck as a part-time specialist and constantly had to wonder if he had enough money.
“I would look at my paycheck, and I couldn’t make ends meet with it. I had just sold this iPhone, and this iPhone paid my salary for the next two weeks,” the former employee said. .
The former employee supports the organizing effort at the store, saying he wants to organize around wages, benefits and safety.
Others feel differently. Mario Ortiz, a current part-time specialist who has worked at Apple’s Grand Central store since it opened in 2011, does not support current organizing efforts. Workers wanted to unionize years ago, but no one knew where to start, he said.
“People felt like if they were breathing badly, they would be released,” Ortiz said. “But then they changed direction and things have been going well ever since. I think what we’re seeing now is just people reacting to the political climate.”
Ortiz pointed out how strong Apple has advantages and acknowledged that some sites might need a union, but he pointed out that Apple Grand Central doesn’t.
“I’m a little discouraged by that,” Ortiz said. “We really have a great management team who really care about the employees. They care about how we feel, watch over us – there’s always momentum from how the store is doing.”
Unique Barriers for Apple Store Unions
Apple employees hoping to unionize face the brunt of a nearly $3 trillion public company. In other words, Apple can give workers more money to try to dissuade them from unionizing — a union busting tactic that employers often use, LIUNA’s Dirnbach said.
In addition, organizing movements can falter for a variety of reasons, such as if other stores’ union efforts fail, if the labor market is weak, if workers cannot afford to change jobs or whether companies succeed in intimidating workers, said Cheryl Carleton, an associate professor of economics at Villanova University.
For example, the Communications Workers of America, which has helped many Apple locations organize, alleged that the tech giant illegally discouraged workers at various Apple stores from engaging in union activities. One location included Apple Cumberland Mall, one of the first stores to run for a union election. He withdrew his request in May, citing intimidation from Apple.
“To the extent stores of the same company succeed in unionizing, others of the same company will try to build on that success,” Carleton said. “They also learn what works, what to expect for arguments against unionization and how to respond.”
Apple Store workers wait for customers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2014.
YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images
Ultimately, the success of any union depends on how workers come together and their collective will to change their working conditions.
“Workers want clear pathways and know someone is fighting for them and hearing them,” Carleton said.
Are you an Apple employee with ideas to share? Do you have any advice? Contact Diamond Naga Siu securely at [email protected]/[email protected], 310-986-1383 on Signal, Telegram, and more. Where @diamondnagasiu on Twitter.
