Organizing Updates

Mersen

Last week, workers at Mersen’s Columbia, Tenn., plant—part of the French multinational conglomerate specializing in electrical power and advanced materials—voted overwhelmingly to join CWA’s industrial division, the International Union of Electrical Workers-CWA (IUE-CWA).

Workers cited safety concerns, the lack of a clear pay structure, and the lack of a pathway for temporary workers, on which the company relies heavily, to advance to full-time employment.

"We are proud of what we've accomplished by standing together to form a union," said Tracy Jones, a worker involved in the organizing process. "We look forward to working with Mersen to create a safer and more structured workplace and to secure fair wages for everyone."

Read the full press release here.

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Apple

On October 10, retail workers at the Bethesda Row Apple Store in Maryland, who are organizing to join CWA, filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board. The filing comes nearly three weeks after Apple Retail Union-CWA Local 6016 members at the Penn Square Mall Apple Store in Oklahoma City overwhelmingly voted to ratify their first contract, becoming the second union of Apple Store retail workers in the country to do so.

“It has been inspiring to see our colleagues in Oklahoma City and Towson organize and win better working conditions and job protections at the bargaining table. Their efforts have made it clear that a union is not only better for workers, but better for the company. My colleagues and I at the Apple Bethesda Row store in Maryland care deeply about our jobs and want to secure the transparency, pay, benefits, and job stability that we deserve,” said Peter Cascio, Operations Specialist at Apple.

The union election marks a critical moment for union organizing at one of the world’s largest tech companies and for Apple retail workers’ rapidly growing fight for a seat at the table.

Read more here.