Apple Retail Workers in Bethesda, Md., File for Union Election with Communications Workers of America

(Bethesda, Md.)—Today, retail workers at the Bethesda Row Apple store in Maryland filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board. Over 70% of the group of 59 workers have signed union authorization cards, including workers in a range of retail, repair, and other job roles. The Bethesda Row Apple store workers will be represented by CWA.

The filing comes nearly three weeks after Apple retail workers in Oklahoma City, represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), became the second store in the U.S. to secure a tentative contract agreement with the tech giant.

“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. 

“With a voice on the job, we will now have the collective power to hold Apple accountable to its retail credo and to get the rights we deserve. We’re excited to be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with other workers as part of Apple Retail Union-CWA to ensure that Apple continues to be a positive place to work, providing high-quality service to its consumer base," said Jimmy Hemmig, Technical expert at Apple. 

With support for labor unions near record highs, momentum for union organizing has been building among Apple retail workers. Instead of recognizing changing attitudes and embracing the opportunity to give workers a meaningful say in their working conditions, Apple executives have worked with anti-union consultants to deploy aggressive, sometimes illegal, tactics to prevent workers from making a free and fair choice about whether or not to join a union. Workers at the CWA-represented Apple store in Oklahoma City and the IAM-represented store in Towson, Md., have overcome Apple’s attempts to intimidate them and secured legally enforceable contracts that provide the security and stability they need to provide the high levels of service Apple customers expect.

“My hope with our union is to make it easier for us to do our best work and to further our relationship not just with each other, but with our community. We have one of the most loyal customer bases in any retail industry. We want to make sure Apple allows us to do our best by our customers because it strengthens their trust in Apple as a company. We want to accomplish these things without compromising ourselves and our own values, and to make sure we get compensated fairly while pursuing our passion,” said Jan Molina, Product Specialist at Apple. 

“We’re honored to welcome the workers at the Bethesda Row Apple store in Maryland as members of CWA. Increasingly more and more workers in the DMV are exercising their right to organize, bringing greater protections to union members in the tech and video game industry. In the past, we’ve seen Apple choose to undermine its employees' right to organize. We call on Apple to change course, live up to its credo, and respect workers’ right to form a union,” said Johnny Brown, President of CWA Local 2108.

Apple workers interested in improving their working conditions and having the protections of a union contract should visit this site to learn more about organizing.

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The Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA) is a network of worker-organizers and their staff working every single day to build the voice and power necessary to ensure the future of the tech, game, and digital industries in the United States and Canada. CODE-CWA is a project of the Communications Workers of America, which represents hundreds of thousands of workers throughout tech, media, telecom, and other industries who stand together to fight for justice on the job and in our communities.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion