Shoppers walk past the Apple Store at Franklin Park Mall during Black Friday. Shoppers head to stores to take advantage of Black Friday sales during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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A union vote at a Apple The store at the Cumberland Mall location in Atlanta is under suspicion after the union tried to organize retail workers to withdraw their vote request.
The union, Communications Workers of America, alleged in a statement that Apple violated labor laws and made a fair election impossible. In addition, the CWA said the number of Covid-19 cases at the store was increasing, which could affect the vote due to concerns about the health of workers.
The vote is expected next week. If successful, it will be the first unified US Apple store.
This development is a setback for Apple workers’ efforts to unite at the company’s retail stores in the U.S. In addition to the Cumberland Mall location, there are at least three other Apple stores staffed by workers. Union. A union vote for workers at a store in Maryland scheduled for June 15th.
“The majority of workers at the Cumberland Mall Store announced that they would form a union in April and ask for company recognition,” a CWA representative said in a statement. “Since then, Apple has waged a sophisticated, systematic campaign to intimidate them and interfere with their right to form a union,” a practice. [that] violates US law, the principles of the Apple platform and supplier code of conduct, and international human rights standards. “
“We will not advance to the election because of what Apple’s response is and the coercive environment it creates,” organizers Cumberland Mall said in a message to colleagues at the store.
“It is infuriating and shameful that Apple has chosen to spend tens of thousands of dollars paying a third party, outside the ‘union avoidance’ law firm, to abandon its claimed values and go bankrupt. unions aggressively and fraudulently in our store, interfering with our legal right to organize a union,” the message continued.
It said the Atlanta store organizers would “reset” and would work with other stores to prepare them for future union trips.
Workers at the Atlanta store applied to join the union in April, when organizers said more than 70 percent of store employees signed cards signaling they wanted to be represented by the CWA.
Since then, Apple has faced accusations that it is deploying tactics against unions that violate labor laws. TTK said in an unfair labor practice filing earlier this month that managers at the store held “contained subject meetings” where workers were asked to attend meetings that included discussions against the company’s union.
Earlier this week, Apple’s head of human resources and retail said, in a video circulated internally, that she believes unions will make it difficult for Apple managers to respond to concerns. concerns of employees and unions are not. commitment to its employees.
Cumberland Mall organizers are demanding more transparency on how workers are paid, a commitment to diversity in management and increased Covid safety measures for employees.
“We’re fortunate to have incredible members of the retail team, and we deeply appreciate everything they bring to Apple,” an Apple representative said before a question about the Atlanta vote, adding: The company offers strong compensation and benefits.
Earlier this week, Apple announced that it is increasing the starting salary for retail employees up to $22 per hour. In a message to colleagues, Cumberland Mall organizers said that the unplanned salary increase was a direct result of its organizational performance.
“Thanks to what we’ve started in Atlanta, Apple will be giving an unplanned pay raise for all employees in all stores. This is on us,” organizers said.
