Workers at the Apple Store in Atlanta have withdrawn their request for a union vote, just days before the incident, citing alleged threats by tech giants, the report said.
Retailers at Apple’s Cumberland Mall store location were due to vote on June 2 on whether to be represented by the Union Communication Workers of America (CWA). Now, in line with the CWA’s claims, “Apple’s repeated violations of national labor relations laws have made free and fair elections impossible,” Bloomberg reported.
“The majority of workers at the Cumberland Mall store announced that they were forming a union in April and requested approval from the company,” a CWA representative said in a statement, according to CNBC. “Since then, Apple has launched a systematic, sophisticated campaign to intimidate them and interfere with their right to form unions.”
In April, the store became the first company to file for union elections, with more than 70% of workers eligible for a union card signing the unit. If successful, voting would have taken place in the first unified Apple Store in the US.
Since then, news reports have focused on allegations of anti-union maneuvers by Apple.
A few days ago, in a leaked audio recording, Apple’s senior vice president of retail and people, Deidre O’Brien, expressed concern about bringing together Apple’s 58,000 retailers.
“I’m concerned about what it would mean to put another organization at the center of our relationship, an organization that doesn’t have a thorough knowledge of Apple or our business, and most importantly, one that I don’t trust, shares our commitment with you,” said O’Brien, who Episode published.
Earlier in May, Vice reported that Apple had sent a script of anti-union talking points to store managers.
In addition to Atlanta, Apple stores in Maryland and Kentucky, as well as the company’s headquarters in New York City, have begun the process of pursuing a merger.
According to a memo seen by The Wall Street Journal and CNBC, the tech giant has raised the base wage for retail workers from 20 to $ 22 an hour. The increase is also against the backdrop of hot labor market and rising inflation.
Representatives from CWA and Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.