Less than a week before the scheduled date, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) decided to withdraw a formal vote on unionizing Apple Store workers at Atlanta’s Cumberland Mall location. As first reported by Bloombergthe union — which has recently invested heavily in organizing tech workers — chose to stand out in the wake of what it described as “repeated violations by Apple of the National Labor Relations Act.”
The pullback follows weeks of escalating tensions between Apple and its retail workers. Shortly after Cumberland went public with his intentions, it was reported that Apple had hired Littler Mendelson, the same law firm that had hired Starbucks – which is going through a wave of unionization. The company’s website conditions: “We excel at union avoidance.” Shortly thereafter, the Apple company began circulating anti-union talking points to managers, and Atlanta workers claimed they were being forced into so-called “prisoner public meetings,” a hallmark of anti-union campaigns. Earlier this week, an audio recording of Apple’s vice president Deirdre O’Brien expressing why she believed a union was a bad fit for the company was leaked. This message was reportedly sent to all of Apple’s 65,000 retail employees.
In a statement today, CWA said Apple’s actions “have made a free and fair election impossible.” The group also expressed concern that COVID cases among the store’s employees could further threaten their ability to vote in person.
One of the key reasons Cumberland employees decided to organize was simple economics. Speaking to Engadget, one of the store’s employees, Elli Daniels, described stagnant wages that couldn’t keep up with national inflation or local cost-of-living increases. Notably, Apple was one of the few companies to thrive in pandemic conditions, posting consecutive record quarters.
Perhaps in an effort to stave off unrest among retail workers (Cumberland is just one of the stores currently exploring unionization), Apple announced this raise wages at a starting wage of $22 an hour. “We are pleased to offer full-time and part-time employees very strong compensation and benefits, including health care, tuition reimbursement, new parental leave, paid family leave, annual stock awards and many other benefits,” Apple said in a statement to the press today. (By the way, the pay rise was reported several hours after the aforementioned union avoidance audio was leaked to the press.)
Though an immediate setback, the withdrawal does not prevent the CWA from attempting another union election – although it will have to wait at least six months to file again.
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