“The vote shows the frustration of workers about unresolved issues in the workplace. A possible work stoppage date will be decided by IAM CORE (the union’s local branch, editor’s note),” the IAM union said in a statement.
The workers of this Apple Store, located in Towson, a city on the outskirts of Baltimore in Maryland, had achieved a historic first in June 2022, by voting to create a union, which had not happened ever in an American store of the iPhone manufacturer. . They have since joined the ranks of IAM (which mainly represents technicians), and their branch is negotiating a new professional contract with Apple.
Also readWorkers at the Apple store in New York try to form a union there
Saturday’s vote “follows more than a year of negotiations with Apple management that have not produced satisfactory solutions to critical issues for (our) members”, the union explained in a press release on Wednesday.
Discussions fell mainly on “work-life balance, unpredictable schedules that disrupt personal lives and salaries that do not reflect the cost of living in the sector,” according to IAM. The Towson store has about 100 employees. About 98% of those who voted were in favor of a strike, according to a union representative. “Today’s vote (…) sends a clear message to Apple,” said IAM CORE members, who were announced in a press release on Saturday. The strike could take place before the next settlement meeting, which is scheduled for May 21.
Brand image
Apple carefully cultivates a polite image, represented physically by its luxury stores. A picket line in front of one of them would damage his brand image, and it would be the first in the United States. The company did not immediately respond to a request from AFP on Saturday.
The American union wave born in a few Amazon warehouses during the Covid-19 pandemic has spread to other groups, especially Starbucks and other chains, but also a little to Apple. Workers at another store of the Californian company, in New Jersey, voted against a union on Saturday, according to Bloomberg. The union they might join, the CWA, filed a complaint against Apple on Wednesday with the labor rights group, the NLRB. He accuses the group of attempts at intimidation. The NLRB has received several complaints against Apple, which has been repeatedly accused of trying to discourage its workers from unionizing.
In France, last September, almost a quarter of workers in Apple stores left. on the day of the global launch of the iPhone 15to demand a wage increase at least equal to inflation.
2024-05-12 07:56:58
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