Apple Store Unionization Effort in Motion at New York Flagship Location

A group of workers at Apple’s flagship retail store in Manhattan have begun formally gathering signatures to form a union, The Washington Post reported Saturday. Organizers at Apple’s Grand Central Terminal store say they voted Feb. 21 to affiliate with Workers United, the national labor union involved in recent efforts to unionize at Starbucks outlets, the paper reported.

If the organizers can collect enough signatures and then either bring about a successful union vote or prompt Apple to voluntarily recognize a union, the iPhone maker’s Grand Central store would, the Post said, become the first of its retail outlets to unionize. At least three additional Apple stores are working toward forming unions, the Post said, citing anonymous employees.

A website put together by the Grand Central organizers, who are calling themselves the Fruit Stand Workers United, says a union is needed “to ensure our team has the best possible standards of living in what have proven to be extraordinary times with the ongoing covid-19 pandemic and once-in-a-generation consumer price inflation,” the Post said.

The news comes just over two weeks after workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York, voted in favor of joining a union, a first for Amazon’s US facilities.

Apple didn’t respond to CNET’s request for comment. The Post said the company wouldn’t say if it would support or push back against the organizing effort. Instead, it provided a general statement of appreciation for its retail employees, along with an overview of benefits it provides them, including health care, tuition reimbursement and new parental leave.