Nearly two-thirds of the employees at the
store voted to join a union last week, making it the first Apple store in the
United States to vote to organise.
The employees voted to join the
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). The IAM
did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Apple is one of several major American
companies whose workforces have moved to unionise, with workers at some
Starbucks and Amazon locations also voting to unionise in recent months.
Apple employees at a store in Georgia
earlier this year had plans to vote on unionization but canceled the vote, with
union officers later filing a complaint alleging that Apple intimidated its
employees. Employees at two other Apple stores in New York are also considering
unionisation.
Apple has also made efforts like making
work schedules for retail staff flexible amid a push towards unionisation,
Bloomberg News reported earlier this month, citing sources.
The company told staff at some stores that
scheduling changes will take effect in coming months, the report said, quoting
workers. The changes will include extending the minimum time period between
shifts to 12 hours from 10 hours.
Apple did not immediately respond to a
Reuters request for comment. A week earlier than that, the iPhone maker told
Reuters it will raise pay for its US employees to $22 per hour or more.
The Cupertino, California-based company,
known for its reticent culture, was last year criticised online for its working
conditions by some current and former workers.
In April, workers at Apple's Atlanta store
filed a petition to hold a union election, seeking to become the company's
first US store to unionise amid a wave of labor activity at other major firms.