First Apple store to unionize sues company for bad faith in negotiations

CORE alleges Apple has violated several laws under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), including "regressive bargaining" and "Surface Bargaining." CORE alleges both of these instances related to the ongoing negotiations are violations of NLRA, and believe Apple should be held accountable.

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14, 07, 23

1 mins

Employees at an Apple store in Maryland, the first of all to form a union, are accusing and suing the company for acting in bad faith during negotiations, not responding to workers’ demands and only making proposals that would maintain the status quo in the company-employee relationship.

Claiming that Apple is adopting a clear form of “retroactive negotiation,” the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. Another argument, according to Bloomberg, is that Apple is passing confidential information about the negotiations to its other retailers.

That lawsuit follows one linked to issues involving health and education benefits, filed by the same store in Maryland. Tension between the parties grew on Wednesday in the last session of talks.

Today @apple has taken the mask off and made it clear they do not wish to bargain in good faith. Moments ago, after months of negotiations, Apple took two egregious steps that can only be interpreted as an intentional moves to derail the progress we have made so far… 🧵1/5
— acoreunion (@acoreunion) July 11, 2023

The Coalition of Organized Retail Employees, or CORE

According to the union, the company has taken “egregious measures that can only be interpreted as intentional moves to derail the progress” the group has achieved so far. It also accuses Apple of violating the National Labor Relations Law, considered a historic milestone for policies to protect the rights of private sector workers in the country.

Among the demands of employees are increases of up to 10% in payroll, changes in vacation and overtime policies, and a proper tipping system. Currently, the company offers sick leave, disgust leave, bereavement leave, and unpaid leave.