Apple will begin negotiations with union workers at Maryland store

Apple store workers in Towson, Maryland, who became the first of the tech giant’s U.S. employees to unionize, will start contract negotiations with the company next month.

Employees at the Towson Town Center store voted 65-33 in June to join the Washington-based International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers through a newly formed Coalition of Organized Retail Employees.

The union on Thursday said negotiating committee members will start contract talks with Apple management Jan. 11 and continue on several dates through Feb. 2. The union and the company agreed to set dates that would not interfere with the holiday shopping season.

“Our IAM CORE negotiating team has worked on sitting across the table from the biggest company in the world,” said David Sullivan, general vice president of the union’s eastern territory, in an announcement. “The goal of our members is to get a first contract that allows them to work together with Apple and its management as equals in a spirit of cooperation and collaboration.”

Apple could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday.

Employees have raised concerns over compensation, fairness and COVID-19 safety, and joined a national wave of organizing during the pandemic. They also have said they hoped other Apple store workers would follow their lead.

In October, workers raised concerns that they were excluded from expanded benefits like health care and educational classes being rolled out companywide. Apple responded, saying Towson store employees would need to negotiate benefits with Apple via collective bargaining.

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