Workers at an Apple store in Towson Town Center store in Maryland have voted in favour of unionizing. 110 employees were eligible for voting in the elections and 65 voted in favour of unionization.
The Verge reported that the store is the first Apple retail location in the US to hold a union election. The Apple employees called themselves - AppleCORE – Coalition of Organized Retail Employees associated with a larger union - International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
The Verge reported that similar efforts are being made at Apple’s Grand Central store in New York and Apple store in Louisville, Kentucky. The publication reported Apple has not welcomed the multiple unionization campaigns at its stores with open arms.
Winning the elections, the Core Union tweeted, “We did it Towson! We won our union vote! Thanks to all who worked so hard and all who supported! Now we celebrate with Now we celebrate with @machinistsunion. Tomorrow we keep organizing.”
US senators too tweeted congratulating Apple employees on the unionization. Chris Van Hollen, U.S. Senator for Maryland tweeted, “This is what’s possible when workers organize to make their voices heard. We must continue fighting to secure this right for all workers and to ensure their ability to collectively bargain for better pay, benefits, and working standards.”
Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted, “Congratulations to Apple workers in Towson, Maryland on becoming the first Apple store in the United States to form a union! What we are seeing right now is a historic uprising of working class Americans telling the corporate elite that they have to end their greed.”