Workers at Apple’s flagship New York store have started collecting signatures to form a union, a report says

• Staff at Apple’s flagship New York store are collecting signatures to unionize, per the Washington Post.
• If successful, it would be the first Apple retail store to organize. 
• Workers told The Post that wages hadn’t kept up with inflation and some managers were unaccountable.
  

Employees at Apple’s flagship store in New York have started collecting signatures to unionize, The Washington Post reported.

“Card signing has begun!” the organizers at Grand Central Terminal, known as Fruit Stand Workers United, announced on a website dedicated to the union drive. 

The website states that organizers voted by majority on Monday, February 21, to affiliate with Workers United, which is a US-based labor union that has also supported unionizing Starbucks employees.

Employees told The Post that pay has stagnated below inflation and they were unable to hold managers accountable “for alleged unfair or abusive practices.”

If the drive is successful, Grand Central would be the first of Apple’s retail stores to organize. At least three others are trying to form a union, The Post said. Apple has around 270 stores in the US. 

To form a union, at least 30% of employees at Grand Central would need to put their names down. The cards are then passed to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), who puts it to a vote. 

“Workers at Apple Stores in the United States are organizing, and you could be part of that effort at Grand Central,” Fruit Stand Workers United website states. “The Workers have the right under the law to organize to demand better wages, benefits, and working conditions from Apple.”

Apple recently ramped up its employee benefits for both full-time and part-time staff. The company doubled sick pay, added vacation, and extended its emergency support of children or elderly family members to its part-time staff. 

Apple raked in $365,817 million in the last fiscal year, which ended in October. Net sales were up 33% on 2020’s sales, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Apple CEO Tim Cook received $98.73 million in total compensation last year. Retail workers in the US get an average of $20 an hour, according to Glassdoor. 

Apple didn’t immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment made outside of normal working hours.