Apple’s St.Louis Store Disband Plans for Unionization Just Days After Announcement

We learned last week that St. Louis’ Apple Store was the most recent one to move toward unionisation. The Apple Store employees have reversed course and abandoned the endeavour, at least temporarily, just seven days later.

An official file to begin the unionisation process was made with the National Labor Relations Board with what appeared to be a lot of employee engagement with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) serving as the representation (NLRB)

The IAM announced on November 16 that it would be representing “around 82 Apple store employees in St. Louis” in the unionisation effort. It wasn’t clear from the press announcement whether that was the Apple West County shop or the Apple Saint Louis Galleria.

IAM previously complained to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) about Apple for forcing the staff at the St. Louis Apple shop to attend a captive audience meeting and threatening retaliation if they opted to organise with the IAM.

It’s interesting to note that IAM was responsible for organising Maryland’s first unionised Apple Store in the US. But things in St. Louis swiftly started to shift. Bloomberg stated that the staff’s decision to proceed with the process has since been retracted.

Anti-union practices and increased hostility towards workers” were factors in abandoning the effort. However, the group says its efforts around Apple Store unionization aren’t over:

The IAM will continue to ensure that all labor laws are followed and remain hopeful that Apple workers will get the respect and dignity they deserve.” 

Time will tell if the St. Louis Apple Store staff will make another attempt at unionization, as the Atlanta staff is hoping to do. Several Apple Stores are in the process of unionising all around the United States. Apple, on the other hand, has described how doing so might affect the interaction between Apple executives and retail personnel.