More than 100 employees of an Apple store in a Baltimore suburb voted Saturday to unionize by a margin of nearly 2 to 1, joining the U.S.’s growing momentum in the tech, retail industries. and services to organize for greater job protection, a union said.
Workers in Towson, Maryland, voted 65 to 33 to apply for admission to the International Association of Aerospace Mechanics and Workers, according to the union’s announcement. The result of the vote could not be confirmed immediately with the National Labor Relations Board, which should certify the result and did not respond immediately to the messages.
Alastair Pike / AFP via Getty Images
The union and employees with the intent to organize said last month they sent a notice to Apple CEO Tim Cook that they were trying to organize a union. The statement said his motive was to seek “the rights we do not currently have”.
“I applaud the courage shown by CORE members at Towson’s Apple store to achieve this historic victory,” IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. said in a statement. “They made a great sacrifice for the thousands of Apple employees across the country who had their eyes set on this election.”
Apple spokesman Josh Lipton told The Associated Press on the phone that the company declined to comment on Saturday’s development.
Messages from an NLRB spokesperson did not return immediately on Saturday afternoon.
Martinez called on Apple to respect election results and allow unionized employees to speed up efforts to secure a contract at Towson’s location. “This victory shows the growing demand from unions in Apple stores and various industries in our country,” he said in a statement.
Also known as IAM, the union ranks as one of the largest and most diverse industrial unions in North America, representing approximately 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airline, railroad, traffic, health, automotive and other industries. .
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