Apple Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (CORE) filed for union election to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) after sending a letter Apple CEO Tim Cook informing him of the decision to organize their union, listing “access to rights we do not currently have” as a driving reason for the move, which has strong support from a majority of the workers.
In that letter, CORE requested for Apple to follow the same neutrality requirement laid out in its Supplier Code of Conduct under the section “Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining” so that employees can obtain their rights to information and collective bargaining that the law affords through unionization.
Vice reported a leaked memo from Apple to its store managers with anti-union talking points, revealing that the tech giant is coaching store managers to discourage workers from unionizing, saying unionization would mean workers could lose career opportunities, merit-based promotions, and time off. In the memo Apple calls the union a “third-party,” even though the union organizers are Apple store employees.
Apple has also hired a known union-busting law firm, Littler Mendelson. Starbucks Corporation is another one of Littler Mendelson’s more recent clients amid a new wave of unionization in customer service.
More Perfect Union, a media group that covers labor issues and unionizing stories, published a piece about CORE’s organizing campaign.
“Hiring a law firm that works with a company that has historically been extremely aggressive toward unionization efforts is troubling. I would hope that they live up to the code of conduct that they set for their suppliers,” says CORE organizer Kevin Gallagher in the video.
Workers at three Apple Stores have launched union drives: Cumberland Mall store employees in Atlanta with Communications Workers of America (CWA), Grand Central Station store employees in NYC with Workers United, and Towson Mall store employees in Maryland with CORE and the Machinists Union (IAM).
On May 13 Apple’s Vice-President of Retail and People Deirdre O’Brien did an unannounced walk-through of the Townson Apple store to “listen” to workers.
CORE union organizers are not discouraged: “There’s a revolution coming and it’s going to be one retail store at a time,” says Gallagher.
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