St. Louis Apple Store second to seek IAM union membership

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union has filed to represent employees at the St. Louis Apple Store.

IAM already represents Apple Towson Town Center employees in Maryland and seeks to make the St. Louis store its second unionized location. The union organization has filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to represent the 82 St. Louis Apple Store employees.

The decision to unionized comes after employees feel that Apple hasn't been fair in its treatment or pay. The IAM has already filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge at the NLRB against Apple for requiring the St. Louis Apple store employees to attend a captive audience meeting, and threatening reprisal if employees vote to unionize.

"I am incredibly grateful that our store team is taking the necessary steps to advocate for ourselves as we prepare to unionize our store officially," said St. Louis Apple store employee Daniel Bertilson. "As an employee of Apple for over five years, I have unfortunately had to watch as the culture of this company has shifted from truly embodying a people-first mentality. I look forward to voting yes on my ballot and allowing our team members to partner with Apple to achieve the common goal of serving our customers with warmth and kindness."

The Maryland Apple Store that previously unionized has already run into issues. Apple has updated employee benefits for non-unionized employees, but the Maryland store must negotiate for the new benefits.

Apple's retail chief Deirdre O'Brien pushed back against initial unionization efforts. She has said that the efforts could slow workplace progress and potentially harm the relationship between Apple and its employees.

Once the petition passes the NLRB, employees at the St. Louis Apple Store will get to vote on joining the union. The Maryland store saw a vote of 65 for, and 33 against unionization, and the St. Louis location may see similar results.

19 Comments

JFC_PA 947 comments · 7 Years

About 2 years ago

Is there an available explanation for selecting “ The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union” to represent retail sales clerks? Machinists and aerospace workers seemingly worlds apart from sales clerks. And with that minimal expertise in how a sales position functions.

Hedware 97 comments · 3 Years

JFC_PA said:

Is there an available explanation for selecting “ The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union” to represent retail sales clerks? Machinists and aerospace workers seemingly worlds apart from sales clerks. And with that minimal expertise in how a sales position functions.

What about Apple pinching its name from the fruit growers association’s products?

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

There are two Apple Stores in the St. Louis area, neither of which are within the city limits of St. Louis. So which ever store is unionizing I will shop at the other store until it unionizes and then it will be online only or Best Buy. Fuck those union employees because their customer service will be terrible. The store managers won’t be able to take any disciplinary action against employees who ignore or mistreat customers. That’s how unions work.

mikethemartian 1485 comments · 18 Years

JFC_PA said:

Is there an available explanation for selecting “ The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union” to represent retail sales clerks? Machinists and aerospace workers seemingly worlds apart from sales clerks. And with that minimal expertise in how a sales position functions.

I doubt that it matters on a practical level but it would be really entertaining to have seen Tim Cook at the bargaining table negotiating with the Teamsters.

22july2013 3725 comments · 11 Years

lkrupp said:

There are two Apple Stores in the St. Louis area, neither of which are within the city limits of St. Louis. So which ever store is unionizing I will shop at the other store until it unionizes and then it will be online only or Best Buy. Fuck those union employees because their customer service will be terrible. The store managers won’t be able to take any disciplinary action against employees who ignore or mistreat customers. That’s how unions work.

I feel strongly about not buying products manufactured in dictatorships; it doesn't bother me much if the company has unionized employees. By comparison, the evil of unions is nothing compared to the evils of dictatorships.

Of course, most or all of Apple's products (and most competing companies) are made in dictatorships, so I don't have much choice. However Apple's prime contractor is often Foxconn, which is a Taiwan-based company not a communist-China-based company, so that eases my pain a little bit. Much of the profit when I buy an Apple product ends up in Taiwan, which has a higher freedom index than many west European countries.