New York– Apple employees at its iconic New York City store in Grand Central Terminal are set to form a union, the way Amazon warehouse and fulfilment centre workers are attempting to.
To date, no Apple store has successfully formed a union.
According to The Washington Post, the Apple retail store employees at the New York City store have started collecting signatures to form a union.
“Grand Central is an extraordinary store with unique working conditions that make a union necessary to ensure our team has the best possible standards of living in what have proven to be extraordinary times,” read the organisers’ website, citing inflation rates and pandemic-related store closures.
The organisers announced that they voted to affiliate themselves with the Workers’ United labor union on February 21.
Workers United recently backed unionisation efforts at Starbucks stores across the US.
According to the report, once at least 30 per cent of Apple retail employees sign, the organisers can file a plea with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a union election.
So far, there hasn’t been an Apple store that has successfully formed a union.
“We are fortunate to have incredible retail team members and we deeply value everything they bring to Apple,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement to The Post.
“We are pleased to offer very strong compensation and benefits for full time and part time employees, including health care, tuition reimbursement, new parental leave, paid family leave, annual stock grants and many other benefits,” the company added.
Apple recently hiked benefits for both part-time and full-time retail employees. (IANS)
