Apple in New York City: Workers plan first union in the company

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Customers in the Apple store at Grand Central Station in New York

Photo: Lucas Jackson/ REUTERS

The labor movement in the USA is planning its next coup: After the founding of unions at Amazon and Starbucks, which received much attention, employees at an Apple store in New York City now want to organize themselves.

As it was said on Monday, they had started collecting signatures.

The aim is the approval of at least 30 percent of the employees, which is the minimum quota for a start-up.

It would be the first union at Apple.

Workers at Apple's Grand Central Station store in Manhattan are organized into a group called the Fruit Stand Workers United.

The group wrote on its website that there were “extraordinary times” such as the ongoing corona pandemic and high inflation “unprecedented in our generation”.

The group demands a minimum wage of $30 an hour and more paid vacation.

Campaign to form a union is backed by Workers United;

under this name, the employees of several Starbucks branches have joined forces in recent months.

Workers United, in turn, is part of the influential US service union Service Employees International Union.

Workers United confirmed support for Apple workers.

Media reports of further union plans

As the Washington Post reported, citing Apple workers, preparations for union formation were underway in at least three other stores in the United States.

Apple initially did not comment on the subject.

In the USA, workers at two Starbucks stores in Buffalo, New York, formed a union in December – preparations are underway in more than 160 stores.

In early April, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York, voted for the first union representation at the company;

At the end of April, voting will take place in another camp nearby.

Amazon announced that it would take action against the vote that had already taken place.

hba/AFP