Employees at an Apple store in Oklahoma voted to unionize and be represented by the Communications Workers of America—becoming the computer giant’s second store in the U.S. to vote in favor of union representation.

Apple, which has expressed its opposition to the union, issued a statement saying that it believes in open, direct and collaborative relationships it has with our valued team members is “the best way to provide an excellent experience for our customers, and for our teams.”

Apple, like other companies like Starbucks and Amazon, was accused of union-busting by employees. The Verge, a tech news website, reported that workers at the location claimed they were interrogated and surveilled by the company—even when the new iPhone 14 Plus was launched. They were told that if they unionized, they would miss out on some of the perks that employees at other stores benefited from. 

Bloomberg News reported that Apple told the only other unionized store in Towson, Maryland, that its staff would miss out on tuition prepayment and other benefits, saying that these employees would have to negotiate with the company through the union. MacRumors reported that Apple’s head of retail warned in May that these kinds of issues could arise after joining a union.

“We have a relationship that is based on an open and collaborative and direct engagement,” she said at the time, according to the report. “Which I feel could fundamentally change if a store is represented by a union under a collective bargaining agreement.”

The Trends Journal has reported extensively on the seismic shift occurring across the U.S. involving service-industry workers turning to unions to help them achieve a certain level of dignity at their jobs. (See “FIRST TRADER JOE’S VOTES TO UNIONIZE,” “TOP 2022 UNIONIZATION TREND UPDATE,” “TOP 2022 TREND, ‘UNIONIZATION,’ ON THE RISE” and “TOP TREND UNIONIZATION, HEATING UP: TOP GERMAN UNION PUSHING FOR HIGHER WAGES.”)

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company also noted that it has increased starting wages at stores by 45 percent since 2018, according to CNBC. 

The employees in Oklahoma City voted 56 to 32 in favor of unionization, according to the National Labor Relations Board. Some of the issues that employees noted was a general lack of clarity about how to advance in the company, and vague work assignments. 

“Some people have been in their current roles for years trying to get promoted and are not really getting anywhere, but whenever they get feedback on an interview for a promotion, what they get is very subjective goals,” one organizer said.

TREND FORECAST: Unionization will continue to be a Top Trend and, as inflation continues to rise faster than wages, corporations that wish to incentivize their workforce to do and give the best they can, will raise the pay scale to levels higher than inflation rates.

There have been several factors why workers across the U.S. have turned to unions. These factors included the surge in profits that CEOs and owners saw during the outbreak that critics say they refused to share. These employees also see no chance of career growth and have complained about safety issues during the outbreak.
Hypocrisy is also worth noting when companies that position themselves to be progressive in the public have no qualms with cracking down the hardest against union formations. Workers at Starbucks, REI, Apple, Amazon have accused them of trying to bust these unionization efforts through intimidation. (See “TOP 2022 UNIONIZATION TREND UPDATE,” “TOP 2022 TREND, ‘UNIONIZATION,’ ON THE RISE” and “TOP TREND UNIONIZATION, HEATING UP: TOP GERMAN UNION PUSHING FOR HIGHER WAGES.”)