employees of one Apple Store in TowsonMaryland, has voted in favor of union representation, a first for the tech giant in the United States.
According to the union, most store employees voted to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, or IAM.
According to the IAM, the number of votes declared on Saturday was 65-33.
The mall-based store is the first Apple location to unionize in the US. It is located outside of Baltimore, a city known as Birthplace of the modern American labor movement.
The IAM on Saturday described the vote as one for history as activists seek representation, often failin the technical field.
“I appreciate the courage displayed by core members at the Apple Store in Towson to achieve this historic victory,” IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. said in a statement.
“I ask Apple CEO Tim Cook to respect the election results and fast-track the first contract for the dedicated IAM core Apple employees at Towson,” he said.
According to the union’s statement, Towson Town Center store employees recently teamed up with the Organized Retail Employees Coalition to send a letter to Cook “informing them of the decision to organize.”
The letter calls on Cook not to use the resources of one of the world’s most valuable companies to “engage in an anti-union campaign to stop us.”
Apple has so far opposed the unionization of its stores. The company had no comment about the vote.
Apple will have to negotiate a deal with the union after the National Labor Relations Board certifies the votes.
“We towed it!” Local organizers tweeted on Saturday. “We won our union vote! Thank you to everyone who worked so hard and supported everyone!”
Amid a new wave of organizing among some tech and food service workers, Martinez argued that there is “increasing demand” for unions at Apple Stores.
In April, employees at the company’s store in Atlanta announced their intention to hold union elections. Union, Communications Activist of America, later Withdrew his request for vote.
In March, employees at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York, highly accepted union status But the company is challenging the results.
Amazon for the year 2021 Spent more than $4.2 million On Labor Consultants. There is no US Labor Department record of Apple spending on such consultants in 2021.
In 2021, employees of a Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, voted to join a local of the Service Employees International Union.
union movement appears fresh speed As tech, service and gig workers face tough costs of living in major cities.
Heidi Schirholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit think tank, said last year that stagnant wages and rising income inequality have made unions more attractive.
Companies have often fought back by arguing a union-free job offers more flexibility, more gigs and more labor competition that can boost pay.
Christian Santana contribution,