Apple Agrees to First U.S. Business Deal

New York
CNN
—

Apple Inc. and the union representing retail workers at its Towson, Maryland, store agreed to a tentative labor agreement late Friday in the first U.S. labor agreement not just for an Apple store but for all U.S. workers at the tech giant.

Workers at an Apple Store in Tucson Vote to join the International Association of Machinists Unions In June 2022, they have been seeking their first contract ever since. In May, they They voted to go on strike. Without giving a deadline.

The labor agreement, which needs to be ratified by a vote of 85 regular store members before it can go into effect, is a milestone. Other high-profile union organizing efforts, such as those at Starbucks And AmazonIt has yet to offer deals to those workers, even though workers at those companies voted to unionize long before workers at an Apple store in Maryland.

There are few legal requirements to force a company to reach a labor agreement with a new union once it has been recognized by the National Labor Relations Board, the government agency that oversees labor relations for most U.S. companies. But the process can take a long time, a recent study found. Bloomberg Law I found that the average time to close a first contract is 465 days, or about 15 months. In many cases, it can take longer. Separate 2023 Academic Studies I found that 43% of new unions were still seeking their first contract two years after winning representation elections.

The mechanics union said the Apple Store deal includes scheduling improvements to better work-life balance, which was a key issue in the talks. The deal also includes a 10% pay raise over the three-year contract, as well as job protections such as severance package guarantees for laid-off workers and restrictions on contract employees.

“By reaching a tentative agreement with Apple, we are giving our members a voice in their future and a strong first step toward achieving further gains,” the union said in a statement, adding that it will now look to win the right to represent retail workers in other stores.

“Together, we can build on this success store by store and grow the strength that began here in Maryland,” the union said.

Apple has about 270 apples. Stores in the United States, all company owned. There is one additional store in Oklahoma City. Vote for the unionand join a different union, the Communications Workers of America. This store is not covered by this temporary labor deal.

An Apple spokesperson declined to comment to CNN about the tentative agreement this week, other than to point to a previous statement in which the company said, “We deeply value our team members and are proud to provide them with industry-leading compensation and exceptional benefits.”