Apple workers in Maryland vote to join union, a first for the tech giant in US

Workers voted to unionise on a nearly two-to-one margin and the result, announced on Saturday by the National Labor Relations Board, provides a foothold for a budding movement among Apple retail employees who want a greater voice over wages and policies pertaining to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The union bills itself as one of the largest and most diverse industrial trade unions in North America, representing about 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, railroad, transit, healthcare, automotive and other industries.

Apple retail employees involved in the Towson Mall union campaign have said they want a greater say over issues including coronavirus safety, hours and pay, balance in work and life pursuits and benefits to be commensurate with tenure.

They have also said that technical skills and product expertise required at Apple are superior to those at other retail jobs. And an underlying theme is that Apple has been slow to increase worker compensation while profits at the company have soared.

Apple, valued at around $2.1tn, reported a record $97.3bn in revenue in its second fiscal quarter, up 9% from the same period last year.