Apple Store in Maryland is close to signing its first historic collective bargaining agreement with the company | News

The first unionized Apple Store in Towson, Maryland, is close to signing a historic collective bargaining agreement with the Big Tech corporation.

On Friday evening, the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (CORE) of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), which represents employees at the Apple Store in Towson, announced that it had signed a three-year contract with the technology company that includes an average wage increase of 10%, among other benefits.

“By reaching a tentative agreement with Apple, we are giving our members a voice in shaping their future and a strong first step toward further benefits,” the union's bargaining committee said in a statement. “Together, we can build on this success, one deal at a time.”

The Apple Store in Towson, in the Baltimore suburb, and a second Apple location in Oklahoma are the technology company's only unionized locations in the U.S. The Oklahoma location voted to unionize in April but has not yet secured a contract with Apple. The Maryland location followed suit in June.

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The union contract at the Maryland site comes after workers initially voted to join the union in June 2022. The site's roughly 85 workers began negotiations with Apple and the union over a year ago. In May, employees in Towson voted to strike because the company was not moving quickly enough.

“Unfortunately, despite persistent efforts to engage in constructive and meaningful dialogue, Apple has failed to address our core concerns,” Jay Wadleigh, senior business representative for IAM District 4, said in a statement to AppleInsider before the strike.