Apple's Grand Central store could be its first to unionize

Signature collection is underway

Employees at the Apple Store in New York's Grand Central Terminal have begun the process of unionizing in earnest. The Washington Post reports that organizers for the would-be union, calling themselves Fruit Stand Workers United, have begun collecting the signatures required to formally unionize. If the effort is successful, Apple Store Grand Central would become the company's first retail location to unionize.

Apple says its retail employees make a minimum of $20 per hour; Fruit Stand Workers United says it stands for a minimum of $30 per hour for all Grand Central employees. That might sound high for a retail position at first blush, but it's worth remembering that the Grand Central store is situated in Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal, itself located in one of the most expensive places to live in the country. Apple has also weathered the pandemic particularly well, financially, posting "an all-time revenue record of $123.9 billion" for the previous financial quarter, ending Christmas Day 2021 (the company's next quarterly financial report is due out in just a couple of weeks).

Organizers for the unionization effort told the Washington Post that Apple has been trying for months to dissuade the employees from forming a union, going so far to accuse the company of so-called union-busting tactics. Fruit Stand Workers United's website calls Apple's Grand Central location "an extraordinary store with unique working conditions" that make unionization necessary, also citing "extraordinary times with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and once-in-a-generation consumer price inflation."

In February, we heard that Apple's retail workers were using encrypted chat apps, even on Android phones, in an attempt to keep unionization plans safe from prying eyes. According to that report, at the time, at least two Apple Stores were preparing to file paperwork with the National Labor Relations Board, with at least six others in earlier stages of unionization.