The union movement after Starbucks և Amazon beat Apple on Saturday with a historic union victory in the US Apple Store, the first for the Apple brand. In Towson, a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland, 65 out of 110 store employees voted in favor and 33 against, according to a live-count count on Saturday.
«We did it Towson! We won! Thank you to everyone who worked hard և to support us.The AppleCORE (Apple Distribution Employees Coalition) page reacted on Twitter after the campaign staff were baptized. «Today we celebrate it with the drivers’ association. Tomorrow we will continue the mobilization“, They added.
AppleCORE members campaigned with the International Automobile Association (IAM). They demand to raise the issue of salaries, hours and security measures. Saturday’s result means that employees at this store, who have been called to the polls since Wednesday, must set up a branch at IAM once the federal agency approves the results.
The victory echoes the victory of Amazon warehouse in New York in April, another technology group that tried in vain to counter the efforts of the organization.
Attempts to discourage employees
This was not the first Apple Store to attempt a merger, but it was the first attempt to vote.
Apple’s human resources director, Dider O’Brien, visited the store in May to contact employees. «It is your right to join a union, but it is also your right not to join a union.“, He told them, according to an audio excerpt broadcast by Vice.
He assured that the presence of a mediator will complicate the relations between Apple and its employees. «I’m worried about an organization in the middle of our relationship that does not have a deep understanding of Apple և our business.“, He still announced. «And first of all, an organization that, in my opinion, does not share our commitment to you«. The California-based group, which contacted AFP, declined to comment.
The IAM trade union condemned the attempts to discourage employees from voting “yes” to the union. In a video made by More Perfect Union, AppleCORE activists shared their “disgustin the form of meetings that seemed to be meant to keep up with them.
«We were told. “Apple offers many benefits for which you should be grateful.”“- says one of them. «I applaud the courage of CORE (…) members to achieve this historic victoryIAM International President Robert Martinez commented on the union statement.
Uncertain sequel
«They made a huge sacrifice for the millions of Apple employees across the country who all watched this election.He went on to say that the vote was a sign of growing trade union demand in Apple stores and other industries. He also called on the head of the iPhone manufacturer Tim Cook to respect the result and quickly accept a collective agreement with the new branch of the union.
After decades of decline, unions have won a number of iconic victories in the United States in recent months, starting with the outspoken support of Joe Biden. In December, the creation of the first Starbucks Coffee Association in the United States, directly managed by the chain, sparked enthusiasm, while employees, often young and educated, mobilized in NGOs, universities, museums, and the media.
Employees of a New York warehouse on Amazon made a surprise move in early April by a majority vote in favor of forming the union, the first for the group in the United States. But this isolated victory (after two setbacks in Alabama and another setback at the New York Sorting Center) has not yet turned into substantive negotiations. The company asked to cancel this result, to organize a second vote, reasoning that, in particular, the union, in its opinion, intimidated the employees to encourage them to vote “yes”.
Source: Le Figaro
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