Following a year of little news on the ongoing efforts of Apple employees to unionize, a new report says that things are starting to move once more. A New Jersey Apple store of more than 100 employees has petitioned to unionize with the staff filing a petition with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday this week.
The move makes this New Jersey Apple Store the fifth US store to petition to unionize with St. Louis, Towson, Oklahoma City, and Atlanta being the other locations. However, only Towson and Oklahoma City have so far actually been able to unionize.
Apple has reportedly been asked not to interfere with the organizing efforts and to allow workers to choose whether or not to form a union of their own accord. However, Apple has been accused of union-busting efforts in the past, which may give the workers cause for concern.
104 employees
Bloomberg reported that the store of 104 employees is represented by Communications Workers of America (CWA).
“We strongly believe forming a union is the best way to ensure all Apple workers receive the respect, pay, benefits and working conditions we deserve,” John Nagy, a member of the organizing committee for the New Jersey store, reportedly said in a statement provided by the CWA. “While Apple has responded to organizing by violating workers’ rights at stores across the country, we hope Apple’s executives will recognize their opportunity to stay on the cutting edge by taking a different approach.”
As for Apple, it says that it is “dedicated to providing an excellent experience for our customers and teams.”
“We have always paid our retail teams in the top tier of the market,” Apple told Bloomberg. “And we provide exceptional and comprehensive benefits for all full- and part-time employees as a part of the overall support we provide to our valued team members.”
