An Apple store worker seeking to form the company's first union says he was inspired by unionizers at an Amazon warehouse
- Apple employees at an Atlanta retail store are to vote on forming the company's first union.
- One organizer told CNBC the drive was inspired by unionization efforts at an Amazon warehouse.
At least one Apple store worker leading a drive to form the company's first union has drawn inspiration from the success of unionizers at Amazon.
Derrick Bowles, a worker on the organizing committee to unionize Apple's Cumberland Mall store in Atlanta, Georgia, told CNBC that the drive was inspired by "what was happening in Bessemer, Alabama, with the Amazon warehouse."
Amazon workers at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, held a vote in the spring of 2021 on whether to form a union. The Bessemer drive faced fierce resistance from Amazon.
Bowles told CNBC he became interested in unionizing at Apple after reading media coverage about the Bessemer campaign. He said he'd never met the Amazon union organizers from Bessemer but had a "massive amount of respect" for their work.
Over 70% of workers eligible to vote at Apple's Cumberland Mall store have signed union authorization cards, the organizers said, as reported by Insider's Juliana Kaplan.
Workers at Apple's flagship store in New York have also begun collecting signatures, The Washington Post reported last week.
Workers at the Bessemer warehouse ultimately voted no on forming a union but the National Labor Relations Board ruled in November 2021 that Amazon had illegally interfered with the election. This forced a second vote, which concluded at the end of March 2022, and resulted in another no. However, some ballots are still contested and it remains possible the unionizers could win.
A separate group of Amazon workers from a Staten Island, New York warehouse successfully voted to form a union in March, the first for the ecommerce giant. Amazon is challenging the outcome. Another union vote is scheduled to take place at a neighboring facility next week.