The employees at an Apple Store in Maryland, the first to successfully unionize, have written a letter to the company’s CEO Tim Cook, accusing Apple of excluding them from new medical and education benefits that will be offered to all other employees next year.
In June, a group of Apple workers in Towson Town Center in Maryland joined The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE), becoming the first store in the company to become part of a union.
The IAM CORE says the letter expresses disappointment about the news and also says the organization’s voice will be heard about the issue.
“The IAM and the members of IAM CORE won’t be silent about any differential treatment from Apple,” said IAM Eastern Territory General Vice President David Sullivan. “Our members in Towson work daily to protect the Apple brand and serve as frontline ambassadors. They deserve to be treated fairly and receive communication on any impact on their work life. We look forward to sitting down at the table with Apple to iron out any issues in the future.”
The union says it is now focused on obtaining a deal that gives its member “the proper respect and dignity” and that “sets the standard in the tech industry.”
“Even more troubling are the reports of leaders in stores stating that these benefits simply cannot be given to employees in the Towson store just because we have formed a union,” wrote IAM CORE employees in a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook. “There is crucial context missing in this communication around the process of change within a unionized store and the fact that we can, and we will include these (and any new benefits) in our collective bargaining contract proposal. Finally, as of today, Apple management has not yet provided our union with any details about the new benefits, so that we have an opportunity to include them in our upcoming contract negotiations.”
According to their website, the IAM represents approximately 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, railroad, transit, health care, automotive and other industries.
Source: KUTV
