“Fruit Stand Workers United”
Apple employees want to form a union
04/19/2022, 2:24 p.m
Amazon and Starbucks workers recently formed unions in the US. Now the employees of an Apple store in New York want to follow their example. They are demanding more holidays and a higher minimum wage to relieve employees in the face of inflation and the corona pandemic.
Apple store workers in New York want to form a union. They had started collecting signatures, they announced on Monday. The goal is the approval of at least 30 percent of the employees, which is the minimum quota for the establishment of a union. It would be the first in the US technology group.
Workers at Apple’s Grand Central Station store in Manhattan are organized into a group called the Fruit Stand Workers United. Their campaign to form a union is supported by Workers United; under this name, the employees of several Starbucks branches have joined forces in recent months. Workers United, in turn, is part of the influential US service union Service Employees International Union.
Workers United confirmed support for Apple workers. “Like so many current campaigns, this one is being led by workers” and not by a traditional union, the organization stressed. “We recognize the tremendous courage these workers have in standing up for their rights and will support them every step of the way.”
Group calls for higher minimum wage
Fruit Stand Workers United said on its website that these were “extraordinary times” – the group referred to the ongoing corona pandemic and high inflation “unprecedented in our generation”. The group demanded a minimum wage of $30 an hour and more paid vacations.
The Washington Post, citing Apple workers, reported that preparations for union formation were underway in at least three other stores in the United States. Apple has not yet commented on the subject.
In the US, workers at two Starbucks stores in Buffalo, New York, formed a union in December – preparations are underway in more than 160 stores. In early April, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York, voted for the first union representation at the company; At the end of April, voting will take place in another camp nearby. Amazon announced that it would take action against the vote that had already taken place.