Apple Retail Workers Hold Informational Picket Outside Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City in Advance of Bargaining Sessions

(Oklahoma City, Okla.)—Today, September 3, 2024, over 80 CWA-represented workers at the Penn Square Mall Apple Store in Oklahoma City held an informational picket outside their workplace to draw attention to Apple’s ongoing delays at the bargaining table. Bargaining for workers’ first union contract is scheduled to resume tomorrow and continue through Friday, September 6th. Workers were joined by local Communications Workers of America members who wore red and held signs demanding the tech giant heed worker demands.

The Apple Retail Union-CWA was formed in October 2022 and since that time has faced an onslaught of anti-union attacks and labor violations. Apple has retained the notorious union-busting firm Littler Mendelson and engaged in an ongoing pattern of stalls and delays over bargaining. Earlier this month, the Apple Retail Union-CWA voted unanimously to authorize a strike and are ready to strike if necessary to win a fair contract. Workers remain hopeful real progress toward their first collectively-bargained contract will emerge in future bargaining sessions.

“We have waited long enough for the fair pay and benefits we deserve and we are calling on Apple to get this deal done without further delays. The iPhone 16 will soon reach our store and we are asking for our fair share as we prepare to once again act as the indispensable point of contact between a trillion dollar corporation and its eager customer base,” said Michael Forsythe, Genius Admin and member of Apple Retail Union-CWA.

This week’s bargaining session will close just days before Apple’s iPhone 16 launch event on September 9th. Following the launch, retail sales workers will play a key role in maintaining Apple’s status as the most profitable retail stores per square foot in any industry.

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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.