Apple retail store workers in Towson, Maryland voted to join a union on June 18, making it the first of its national fleet of stores to unionize. The vote passed 65-33, certified by the National Labor Relations Board. Retail workers organized as the Coalition of Retail Employees (CORE), an affiliate of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).

The union drive comes on the heels of a number of high profile labor movements at large national businesses. Amazon, Trader Joe’s, REI, Starbucks, and more. The life of local business has also been impacted by the trend as we see workers in smaller stores like City Feed organize for their labor rights.

The successful vote in Towson follows a misfire in a similar union drive in Atlanta at an Apple retail store. The workers at the Georgia location were the first to file a petition to hold an election to form a union, but, after union busting efforts, momentum for the drive suffered a setback. Via Verge:

Although Apple has not taken a public stance on unionization in its stores, it has been distributing anti-union talking points to managers (according to a report by Vice) and has hired lawyers from Littler Mendelson (a firm known for anti-union cases that previously defended McDonalds against alleged violations of labor law and is currently representing Starbucks in its own anti-union battle).

The setback in Atlanta helped prepare the retail workers in Towson for anti-union pushback from the corporate office. Via NYT:

Ms. Reeder said that workers in Atlanta had helped prepare union supporters at the Towson store to defuse the company’s talking points. “We kind of got some insight from the Atlanta store on things that were coming,” she said, citing the company’s suggestions that employees could lose certain benefits during a contract negotiation if they unionized.

Now Towson can serve as an organizing model for other Apple workers going forward.

Stand in solidarity with Apple retail workers everywhere.

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