Apple Store Union Movement Stalls as Tech Titan Strikes Back

Organizing the nearly 300 Apple stores in the US presented an opportunity for unions to gain a foothold in big tech. Two years after the first group of workers won a union election in suburban Baltimore, however, only one other store has followed suit, revealing the continued difficulties unions face in organizing major tech companies.

The wave of union organizing that swept the US in early 2022 gave labor leaders the incentive to set their sights on Apple Inc. Workers at its retail stores were feeling burned out and agitated from the pandemic, rising cost of living, and a shortage of workers.

Unions hoped just a few victories could set off a nationwide domino effect like the one unfolding at Starbucks Corp., where dozens and eventually hundreds of cafés joined a new union, Starbucks Workers United. It didn’t go as planned, with other Apple stores failing to reach majority support, losing elections, and abandoning efforts altogether.

Neither unionized Apple store has a contract. An Oklahoma City location is scheduled to hold a strike authorization vote next month, echoing a store in Towson, Md., which granted leaders permission to strike in May.

Those involved with the effort say they’ve faced fierce pushback from Apple—one of the most profitable companies in the world—enabled by weak federal labor laws. But union organizers ran into other hurdles, including the need to persuade a less transient workforce with deep ties to the brand.

“The culture of Apple makes it feel like this is part of your extended family,” said Shea Beckom, an Apple store worker in Short Hills, N.J., who was part of an unsuccessful union election in May. “It was almost like they felt betrayed.”

Apple was quick to respond to the organizing by hiring management-side law firm Littler Mendelson—the same firm that represented Starbucks—to quash the growing union campaign. In the months that followed, workers and union leaders say, the staff was forced to hear anti-union messages in daily team huddles, in addition to one-on-one walking meetings with managers.

The topics varied but often centered on claims that employees could lose benefits, workers said in interviews at the time.

At the New Jersey store, some employees faced 10 personal meetings back to back, Beckom said, where managers peppered them with personal reasons not to support the union.

“They got aggressive immediately,” she said.

In a statement, Apple spokeswoman Shannon Gilson said the company offers retail employees “industry-leading compensation and exceptional benefits. Throughout this process we have engaged with the unions representing our teams in Towson and Penn Square respectfully and in good faith.”

‘A Blessing and a Curse’

The message from management seemed to resonate at Apple more than it did at Starbucks, even with union organizers moderating their sell to Apple workers.

Despite serving a similar customer base, working at the two stores is quite different. Starbucks has a fast-paced, high-turnover environment with nearly two thirds of employees lasting less than a year, according to annual reports. Apple store workers tend to stick around longer; some employees at the Short Hills store have worked there for a decade or longer, Beckom said.

“You walk into an Apple store, you get a highly sophisticated group of people, and, I think, a different workforce than a Starbucks store,” said Roger King, senior labor and employment counsel for the employer group HR Policy Association. “Unions will have a more difficult time convincing workers of an Apple store than other employees.”

Moreover, while Starbucks baristas rely on tips, Apple retail workers receive stock grants and discounted share prices, engendering a sense of loyalty and shared mission with corporate workers in Cupertino, Calif. Apple also announced across-the-board raises and benefits increases as workers started to organize, citing the need to attract workers in a tight labor market.

Organizers, in turn, have had to acknowledge that the Apple jobs aren’t bad while arguing they could be better.

“It’s a blessing and a curse,” Tim Dubnau, deputy organizing director for CWA, said of employees’ fondness for the job. “At Apple, the people love helping customers.”

“There’s no doubt that Apple has used that to their advantage, sort of saying that ‘oh, you know, the union will interfere with this relationship,’” he added.

Those early victories proved critical for Apple in slowing the momentum. In Atlanta, the first store to announce an election promptly withdrew its petition to join the Communication Workers of America. CWA alleged that the company used illegal union-busting tactics to erode what had been a 70% majority or higher among workers. The store has not sought an election since.

Bloomberg Law employees are represented by the Baltimore-Washington News Guild, which is affiliated with CWA.

Around the same time, workers in Kentucky announced an organizing campaign but never filed for an election.

The National Labor Relations Board ruled this past May that Apple also interrogated staff at its World Trade Center store in New York and illegally confiscated union flyers. It was the first time that the Democratic-controlled board sanctioned Apple, a spokeswoman said.

There are three dozen unfair labor practice charges pending against the company.

“Regular open, honest, and direct communication with our team members is a key part of Apple’s collaborative culture,” said Gilson. “We disagree with the ruling and have filed an appeal.”

Apple’s approach diverges sharply from its chief competitor—Microsoft Corp—which pledged not to interfere with employees’ union efforts. Microsoft reached a neutrality deal with CWA a in June 2022 as it prepared to acquire video game maker Activision Blizzard. It later extended the policy to other studios under Microsoft ownership.

Challenges Persist

The efforts unfolded against the backdrop of national labor unrest not seen in decades, starting with a John Deere strike in 2021. Workers were involved in 317 strikes in 2022—the highest in 17 years, according to Bloomberg Law data.

None of it was enough to reverse a long-term decline in union density, however. Just 6% of private-sector workers are represented by a union, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In Towson, Md., a group of Apple store workers began to organize under another union, the International Association of Machinists. It quickly became apparent that, unlike most union drives, workers weren’t looking for a caustic fight with the company.

“A lot of folks are organizing because they love the company and can see the shift in how they operate,” said David DiMaria, an organizer for the International Association of Machinists who oversaw the Towson campaign. “It was not ‘We hate the company.’ It was, ‘We want to make the company better.’”

“People can tell the difference between having a vision and just increasing value for shareholders,” DiMaria said.

In June 2022, the Maryland location became the first US store to win a union election, with supporters outnumbering opponents 2 to 1. The second union victory would take place in October that year in Oklahoma City, under CWA.

But neither union is up and running, because both find themselves locked in protracted bargaining disputes with Apple.

The Towson workers in May voted to authorize a strike after spending more than a year negotiating with Apple. IAM said in a statement that the talks had yielded “unsatisfactory outcomes” on pay, scheduling, and work-life balance. The union could call a strike at any time.

“They haven’t bargained meaningfully for one minute,” former CWA President Larry Cohen said of the company.

In Oklahoma City, the union and Apple agreed to bring in a federal mediator after remaining deadlocked on annual raises and bilingual pay, said Michael Forsythe, the chief organizer of the Oklahoma City union. Leaders said in a written update to members last month that it would conduct a strike authorization vote in August.

No other stores have unionized in the 21 months since the Oklahoma City election. Pro-union workers lost an election this past May at the Short Hills store.

CWA is seeking a bargaining order from the NLRB under the 2023 decision in Cemex Construction Materials Pacific LLC, Dubnau said. The decision allows the board to force an employer to bargain with a union if it’s found to have committed even a single violation in the run-up to an election.

“We didn’t expect them to push back and say, ‘Well if you’re not that happy you can go work somewhere else,’” Beckom said. “We thought from the culture that they would be more willing to negotiate.”