TOWSON, Md. — Wednesday, elected officials and community leaders joined workers from Towson's Apple store in their fight against the company.
At a rally attendees chanted, “Union busting is disgusting" stemming from Apple closing down the store, the company's first unionized store in the country.
It’s not where Towson Apple employees thought they’d end up after unionizing, fighting for their jobs.
Elected officials, community leaders call on Apple to do right by Towson workers
The IAM union says after Apple announced it was closing the Towson Town Center store, it didn't give employees the opportunity to transfer within the company, the same opportunity the company gave to non-unionized stores.
Store lead Eric Brown said that with three kids, it puts him in a tough spot.
“I don’t want to have the stress between changing diapers, of checking to see if a position opens up that I can get. I don’t want to look to have to take a pay cut or drop down a few roles just to keep my healthcare benefits," Brown said.
According to Apple, the company would transfer or rehire employees only if Apple opened a new store within 50 miles of Towson's current location.
“They’ve told us several times that they do not plan on opening a store within the next 18 months, that they do not plan on opening a store within 50 miles, so that’s null and void. There’s nothing in our contract that says they have to terminate us.”
The union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Apple over the transfer decision.
In a statement Apple says:
"We strongly disagree with the claims made, and we will continue to abide by the agreement that was negotiated and agreed upon with the union. We look forward to presenting all of the facts to the NLRB."
The Maryland congressional delegation also sent a letter to the company seeking accountability.
“This is really about the need to make sure that we continue to send messages, collective bargaining has to be respected, labor laws have to be respected, the rights of individual men and women to speak and to organize themselves must be respected," Congressman Kweisi Mfume said.
IAM President Brian Bryant told Wednesday's attendees that Apple's decision doesn't just affect workers.
“The Towson store is the only Apple Store in the entire Baltimore area that can be reached by bus," Bryant said, “This is not just a union issue, this is a civil rights issue!”
They're calling on customers and the community to reach out to Apple demanding they do right by their workers.
