A majority of workers at a US Apple retail store have voted to form a union, a first for the tech giant, which has so far tried to quash attempts to unionize.
Of the 110 employees at the Towson, Maryland store, 65 voted in favor and 33 against, according to the count broadcast live Saturday by the federal agency responsible for overseeing the election.
A group of employees called AppleCORE (Coalition of Apple Retail Employees) campaigned for unionization. They demand a say in decisions about salaries, working hours and safety measures.
Saturday’s result means workers at the store, who have been called to vote since Wednesday, should form their branch of the IAM union once the agency confirms the results.
The win mirrors that of an Amazon department store in New York in April, another tech group that has tried unsuccessfully to counter organizing efforts.
It wasn’t the first Apple Store to attempt unionization, but it was the first attempt to result in a vote.
Apple’s director of distribution and human resources, Deirdre O’Brien, visited the store in May to address employees.
“It’s your right to join a union, but it’s also your right not to join a union,” she told them, according to an audio clip broadcast by the Vice website.
She had assured that the presence of an intermediary would complicate the relationship between Apple and its employees.
The California group contacted by AFP declined to comment on the news.
In decline for several decades, unions in the US have won several symbolic victories in recent months, beginning with outspoken support for Joe Biden.
The formation of the first union at a Starbucks coffee managed directly by the chain in the United States in December has sparked enthusiasm while workers, often young and educated, have been mobilized in NGOs, universities, museums and the media.
At Amazon, in early April, workers at a New York department store surprised everyone by voting to form a union, a first for the company in the United States.
However, the company demanded the annulment of this result and the organization of a second ballot.