Apple Towson Town Center employees received support from Maryland Governor Wes Moore in their fight against Apple over the company’s decision to close its first unionized store in the United States. Here are the details.
Apple faces new pressure over Towson store closure
A couple of months ago, Apple announced that its Towson Town Center would close its doors permanently on June 20, along with two other stores located in shopping centers in California and Connecticut.
Apple Towson Town Center workers have been represented by the IAM Union since 2022, after becoming the first Apple retail store in the US to unionize.
Shortly after the announcement, IAM Union condemned the way Apple handled the store closure. While the company says the union agreement only requires transfers within 50 miles of the Towson store, and that severance is offered if not, the IAM Union argues that Apple is denying them the broader relocation options available to employees at non-union stores.
Since then, in addition to the rejection by the IAM union, Apple has also received letters of maryland legislators and, just yesterday,40 members of Congressasking him to reconsider closing the store or giving Towson employees the same transfer opportunities offered to non-union store workers.
Today, Maryland Governor Wes Moore weighed in and expressed his support for Towson workers.
While Governor Moore stopped short of accusing Apple of anti-union practices, as members of Congress did in their letter to the company, he did explicitly call on Apple to grant Towson workers the same transfer rights and opportunities as other employees.
Here is Governor Moore’s statement:
“The Towson Town Center Apple Store has been a retail anchor for the region since 2022. (…) It has provided good-paying jobs, increased economic activity, and been an important localized service center for the region. As the first unionized Apple retail store in the country and a strong performing location, its workers demonstrated that economic growth and worker rights go hand in hand. Now, the rug is being pulled out from under them. These Marylanders deserve the same transfer rights and opportunities as They have other Apple Store employees and we are at their side.”
The IAM Union praised Governor Moore’s support and called on the company to act before the June 20 deadline.
Apple, for its part, has remained silent on the issue, since providing the following statement to 9to5Mac when the IAM Union filed an unfair labor practice charge before the National Labor Relations Board on April 28:
We strongly disagree with the statements made and will continue to comply with the agreement that was negotiated and agreed to with the union. We look forward to presenting all the facts to the NLRB.
As of now, the Apple Towson Town Center page says that the store will close on June 20 at 8:00 p.m.
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