The union representing those workers framed the move as retaliation, while Apple cited business reasons. Either way, it could discourage other organizing efforts.
In 2022, an Apple Store outside of Baltimore became the first in the U.S. to unionize, fueled by worker frustrations over how they were treated during the pandemic. Two years later, they won a contract that enshrined protections that seemed designed to enable other workers to follow in their footsteps. The contract secured a cap on the number of temporary workers Apple could hire and carved out a process by which the union could pursue cases on behalf of workers who they believed had been unfairly disciplined or dismissed.
