Current:Home > Contact-usApple workers in Atlanta become company's 1st retail workers to file to unionize-LoTradeCoin
Apple workers in Atlanta become company's 1st retail workers to file to unionize
View Date:2024-12-23 21:21:35
Apple workers in Atlanta filed to unionize Wednesday, becoming the first retail employees for the tech giant to do so in the nation, according to Communications Workers of America, the union representing the employees.
Staff at the Apple store in Atlanta's Cumberland Mall submitted their filing Monday. It included salespeople, technicians, creatives, and operations specialists, CWA said in a statement Wednesday.
"A number of us have been here for many years, and we don't think you stick at a place unless you love it," said Derrick Bowles, an Apple Genius worker who is a part of the organizing effort. "Apple is a profoundly positive place to work, but we know that the company can better live up to their ideals, and so we're excited to be joining together with our coworkers to bring Apple to the negotiating table and make this an even better place to work."
CWA said big tech companies like Google, Amazon and Apple fail to give employees who don't work in an office equal standing and respect.
More than 100 employees are eligible to join the union effort, and at least 30% of workers must sign union authorization cards to show interest for the group to be registered with the National Labor Relations Board. Seventy percent of the Cumberland Mall workers have shown interest, CWA said.
"We welcome the workers who are organizing at Apple and call on the company's management to reject union busting tactics so that they can vote without interference or intimidation," said Ed Barlow, President of CWA Local 3204 in Atlanta. "These workers have been indispensable during the pandemic and the high level of service and support they provide is critical to Apple's success."
Unionization movements have picked up steam at other large companies, such as Amazon and Starbucks.
Earlier this month, Amazon workers at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York, became the first group of Amazon employees to unionize. The historic vote was 2,654 for the union to 2,131 against.
The workers, who pick and package items for customer orders at the facility, will be represented by the Amazon Labor Union, an upstart group formed by Christian Smalls after he was fired from Amazon in March 2020. At the time a supervisor at the fulfillment center, he staged a walkout over the lack of worker protections against the coronavirus.
At Starbucks, a wave of union organizing that started in Buffalo, N.Y., has swept stores across the country. Close to 190 have petitioned for union elections, and 10 stores — half in Buffalo, and the others in New York City; Mesa, Ariz.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and in Starbucks' hometown of Seattle — have voted to join Workers United.
veryGood! (836)
Related
- Democrat Cleo Fields wins re-drawn Louisiana congressional district, flipping red seat blue
- Tito Jackson, brother of Michael Jackson and Jackson 5 co-founder, dies at 70
- Cardi B Reunites With Offset in Behind-the-Scenes Look at Birth of Baby No. 3
- Florida sheriff's deputy airlifted after rollover crash with alleged drunk driver
- New Jersey will issue a drought warning after driest October ever and as wildfires rage
- Here's What Artem Chigvintsev Is Seeking in Nikki Garcia Divorce
- Emmys: What you didn't see on TV, including Jennifer Aniston's ticket troubles
- 2024 Emmys: RuPaul’s Drag Race Stars Shut Down Claim They Walked Out During Traitors Win
- Florida education officials report hundreds of books pulled from school libraries
- Horoscopes Today, September 14, 2024
Ranking
- Bev Priestman fired as Canada women’s soccer coach after review of Olympic drone scandal
- Customer fatally shoots teenage Waffle House employee inside North Carolina store
- Meryl Streep Had the Best Reaction to Being Compared to a Jockstrap at 2024 Emmys
- Cardi B Reunites With Offset in Behind-the-Scenes Look at Birth of Baby No. 3
- FC Cincinnati player Marco Angulo dies at 22 after injuries from October crash
- An Iowa shootout leaves a fleeing suspect dead and 2 police officers injured
- Tire breaks off car, flies into oncoming traffic, killing Colorado motorcyclist
- You'll Be Royally Flushed by the Awkward Way Kate Middleton Met Brother James Middleton's Wife
Recommendation
-
2 more escaped monkeys recaptured and enjoying peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in South Carolina
-
After a mission of firsts, SpaceX Polaris Dawn crew returns safely to Earth
-
You need to start paying your student debt. No, really.
-
Demi Lovato Shares Whether She Wants Her Future Kids to Have Careers in Hollywood
-
She's a trans actress and 'a warrior.' Now, this 'Emilia Pérez' star could make history.
-
TikTokers Matt Howard and Abby Howard Slammed For Leaving Toddlers Alone in Cruise Ship Cabin
-
Charlie Puth and Brooke Sansone Spark Marriage Speculation by Showing Off Rings in Italy
-
Man accused of charging police with machete fatally shot by Pennsylvania officer