The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers’ Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE), representing the employees at the Towson, Maryland location, announced on Friday evening that they have struck a three-year deal with Apple. With this, the tech giant has reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement with its first unionized retail store in the United States.
The proposed contract promises to increase pay by an average of 10% and includes additional benefits for the workers. Approximately 85 employees at the Towson store, located in a Baltimore suburb, must approve the agreement. A vote is scheduled for August 6.
“By reaching a tentative agreement with Apple, we are giving our members a voice in their futures and a strong first step toward further gains,” the union’s negotiating committee said in a statement. “Together, we can build on this success in store after store.”
This agreement follows the store's authorization of a strike in May, after more than a year of negotiations with management failed to yield "satisfactory outcomes."
The Towson store is one of only two unionized Apple locations in the country. Employees at this store voted in favor of unionizing in June 2022, a few months before workers at another Apple store in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, unionized with the Communications Workers of America. However, the Oklahoma store has yet to secure a contract with Apple.
In recent years, unions have achieved significant election victories at major companies, including an Amazon warehouse in New York City, a Chipotle store in Michigan, and hundreds of Starbucks stores across the nation. Despite these wins, many of these unions are still working to secure contracts.
