Subject: Organizing Takes Another Bite Out Of Apple

October 20, 2022

To visit the blog post, click on the link below the article.

Organizing Takes Another Bite Out Of Apple

by Kimberly Ricci

Earlier this year, we told you about how workers pushed organizing “firsts” into motion for several corporate giants in the wake of union-activity at Starbucks. Sure enough, the media’s search for the next Starbucksbegan, and for a moment in time, it looked as though workers at multiple Apple locations aimed to win the dubious title. Word slipped out that the tech giant’s retail workers began to secretly organize (while covertly using Android devices) amid reports of workplace unease. 

 

In June, a Towson, Maryland store became Apple’s first unionized retail store in the U.S. with workers forming the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (CORE) as part of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). Very quickly, Workers United and the Communications Workers of America launched a coordinated effort to scoop up additional Apple retail locations. Yet the movement soon appeared to fade away with news that Apple retail stores hiked starting pay to $22 per hour.

 

Fast forward to October, and the Apple organizing effort has been slow going, but a second U.S. Apple retail location (in Oklahoma City) voted to unionize while dubbing themselves the Penn Square Labor Alliance as part of the CWA. Will this prompt more workers at the other 270 Apple U.S. retail stores to follow suit? Apple retail workers in Atlanta already attempted as much (in May) but withdrew an NLRB request for a vote (while citing too many workers ill with Covid-19). They could very well try again.

 

One more twist: Apple made a Starbucks-esque move while declaring that newly amped-up, company-wide benefits will not apply to Towson retail workers as the union and company prepare to meet at the bargaining table. 

 

Here’s a fresh batch of additional organizing news of note: 


  • Geico workers in Amherst, New York are organizing as Geico United (which aims to exist as an independent union) with the goal of forming the insurance company’s first unionized call center. Organizers voiced concerns over pay rates and erratic work schedules. 

  • Starbucks Workers United currently claims 235+ unionized locations with more brewing. Workers at a Brooklyn cafe went on a headline-making strike, and an NLRB judge ruled that Starbucks broke federal law by asking police to remove picketing workers in Kansas and Missouri. The judge also ruled that several fired union organizers must receive their jobs back, along with back pay. However, an independent watchdog declared that it will audit the NLRB election procedure after Starbucks accused the board of misconduct and interference during the mail-in processes of two union elections. 

  • Chicago Field Museum workers are gathering signatures for a vote while organizing as Field Museum Workers United. They hope to join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which already counts 25,000 members who work at various museums and libraries.

  • The UAW still aims to recover from their dwindling-dues issue by further targeting academia. To that end, the union is holding “mass meetings” while pushing for higher pay for approximately 48,000 graduate student workers at the University of California’s 10 campuses.  

  • Amazon, which has faced five union elections and successfully fended off all but one, recently saw organizers push for a $30 hourly wage at the ALB1 warehouse in Albany, New York. ALB1 workers, however, voted against joining the Amazon Labor Union. In addition, Business Insider published a telling report, which shows the lengths that unions will go to while attempting to court Amazon workers. The publication quotes an Ironworkers union organizer who even obtained a drone pilot license in order to spy on warehouses and gather dirt.


Links

**********

Union Bailout

 

NLRB Extends Time for Submitting Comments on Proposed Rule Concerning the Joint-Employer Standard

https://lri.link/3yEz3cr


NLRB Telegraphs Possible New Standard For Employee Email Use

https://lri.link/3s0c6Na

 

Jennifer Abruzzo, Head Of NLRB, Is Building A Pro-Union Legacy For Biden

https://lri.link/3D1nGxJ

 

Remarks By President Biden At A Grassroots Organizers Event 

https://lri.link/3s1kzjc

 

**********

Strikes

A Year After Striketober, Employers And Labor Unions Aren't Getting Along 

https://lri.link/3Vumqu6

 

Union Strike Power Under Threat As Supreme Court Mulls Labor Law 

https://lri.link/3MxznPY

 

Why Going On Strike Could Get Much Harder For U.S. Workers

https://lri.link/3yINk7X

 

**********

U.S. Supreme Court's Kavanaugh Says Overtime Pay Rules May Be Invalid

https://lri.link/3euOJYZ

 

**********

Union Corruption

 

Prosecutors: Former Labor Leader, Family Members Used Unions As 'Personal Piggy Bank'

https://lri.link/3gg5ess

 

Feds Ask Judge To Sentence Ex-Teamster Boss John Coli To 19 Months In Prison In Extortion Case

https://lri.link/3S4rL8A

 

**********

Healthcare

 

Santa Clara County Doctors Could Go On Strike Over Working Conditions

https://lri.link/3D0lky7

 

Kaiser And NUHW Reach Tentative Agreement; 2- Month Strike Ends

https://lri.link/3ggMgBO

 

Sacramento Mayor Will Mediate Negotiations With Kaiser, Striking Mental Health Clinicians

https://lri.link/3eDliDR

 

Minnesota Health Care Workers Strike 3 Days Over Wages, Safety

https://lri.link/3CYeiLl

 

**********

Gig Economy

 

How A U.S. Rule On Independent Contracting Will Affect Workers, Businesses

https://lri.link/3CGzx2P

 

**********

Manufacturing

 

UAW Members Claim Voting Rights Violation Ahead Of First Direct Election

https://lri.link/3yIIvvw

 

The UAW's First Direct Leadership Elections Start This Week. What's At Stake? 

https://lri.link/3eBprIw

 

For GM Auto Union Workers, There's Still A Lot To Learn About Making EVs 

https://lri.link/3Tr1Kl5

 

20 Striking Boston Teamsters Arrested For Blocking Doors Of Sysco Plant

https://lri.link/3gaDtBn

 

Strike At Sysco Food Distribution Hub In Syracuse Has Been Settled

https://lri.link/3TrJXdt

 

**********

Transportation 

 

So What's Going On With Railroads?

https://lri.link/3Ti2t8g

 

The Threat Of A Freight Railroad Strike (Possibly By Mid-November) Is Back

https://lri.link/3F6djdF

 

**********

Media/Tech

 

Nintendo, Former QA Workers Settle Labor Dispute

https://lri.link/3VqCldb

 

About Labor Relations INK

Labor Relations INK is published weekly and is edited by Labor Relations Institute, Inc. Feel free to pass this newsletter on to anyone you think might enjoy it. New subscribers can sign up by visiting here.


If you use content from this newsletter please attribute it to Labor Relations Institute and include our website: http://www.LRIonline.com 


Contributing editors for this issue: Phillip Wilson, Greg Kittinger, and Kimberly Ricci 


You are receiving this email because you subscribed to receive our labor relations newsletters and updates. You can manage your email preferences by clicking the link at the bottom of any of our email communications.


About Labor Relations Institute

LRI exists to help our clients thrive and become extraordinary workplaces. We improve the lives of working people by strengthening relationships with their leaders and each other. For over 41 years LRI has led the labor and employee relations industry, driven by our core values and our proven process, the LRI Way.

 

Share