Apple is Closing a Unionized Store in the U.S. and the Union is 'Outraged'

[MacRumors]

Apple on Thursday announced that it will be permanently closing three of its retail stores in the U.S. in June, and one of them was unionized.

Apple Towson Town Center in Maryland​

Apple Towson Town Center in Towson, Maryland is one of the three stores being shuttered, with no replacement store planned. The staff at this location became Apple's first retail employees in the U.S. to unionize in 2022. They belong to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers' Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE), and they signed a collective bargaining agreement with Apple in 2024.

The other two locations that are permanently closing are Apple Trumbull in Trumbull, Connecticut and Apple North County in Escondido, California.

Apple said employees at the Trumbull and North County stores will "continue their roles" at the company's nearby stores in each area, so transfer eligibility is guaranteed. Meanwhile, Apple said employees at the Towson store will be eligible to apply for open roles at Apple in accordance with their collective bargaining agreement, and it is unclear if everyone who applies will successfully secure a new position at the company.

In a statement, Apple said it made the "difficult decision" to close all three stores due to "declining conditions" at the shopping malls in which they are located:

At Apple, we are constantly striving to deliver exceptional service and great experiences for our customers. As we continue investing to expand and enhance our retail stores and offerings worldwide, we remain deliberate about evaluating our existing locations to ensure that we can meet our customers' needs in the best way. Following the departure of several retailers and declining conditions at Trumbull Mall, the Shops at North County, and Towson Town Center, we've made the difficult decision to close our stores at these locations.

Our team members at Trumbull and North County will continue their roles at nearby Apple Retail stores. Towson employees will be eligible to apply for open roles at Apple in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement. We look forward to continuing to serve customers at nearby stores and on Apple.com, the Apple Store app, and at Apple Authorized Resellers and Service Providers throughout the states.

Towson Town Center is indeed a struggling shopping mall that has lost many major retailers. Earlier this year, for example, Banana Republic, Madewell, and Tommy Bahama announced they were leaving the mall. In addition, local news outlets have reported that the area surrounding the mall is facing a rising crime rate in recent years.

In a statement, the IAM Union said it is "outraged" by Apple's decision to close the Towson store and raised "serious concerns" of potential union busting:

The IAM Union is outraged by Apple's decision to close its Towson, Md., store—the first unionized Apple retail location in the United States—and abandon both its workers and a community that relies on it for critical services and its unique access to public transit. Apple's claim that the collective bargaining agreement prevents relocation is simply false and raises serious concerns that this closure is a cynical attempt to bust the union. We are exploring all legal options and will work with elected officials and allies to hold Apple accountable. We stand with our IAM Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE) members and the community that depends on this store for essential access and support.

IAM added that it is exploring all legal options and will work with elected officials and allies to hold Apple accountable for this decision.

Apple has yet to respond to our follow-up questions regarding IAM's statement and the accusations of potential union busting.

Apple Towson Town Center closes June 20, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Update: According to Apple, the contract that the union agreed to states that in the event of a store closure, Apple would transfer or rehire employees if the company opened a new store within 50 miles of the current location at Towson Town Center. In any other circumstance, the union negotiated for employees to receive severance. Apple has no current plans to open a new store in the area, but if it were to do so within the next 18 months, the affected employees would have the right of first refusal.

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Article Link: Apple is Closing a Unionized Store in the U.S. and the Union is 'Outraged'

 

[tyranne201]

Apple is evil

 

[germanbeer007]

Wait so you expect Apple to keep a store open no matter how bad the location is?

This is so stupid. Unions should just go away. They're a cancer to the business.

 

[BOOMBA]

I drove to the Towson store from NJ on opening day, and I got a t-shirt I still have. I think it might've been the first Apple Store ever? Or one of the first. Sad. But malls are declining and Apple def positions itself as a premium store in upscale locations.
EDIT: Just checked the shirt, it was Tyson's Corner, not Towson! Whoops

 

[ELman]

Get rid of the unions. They had a place and time and it's not in an Apple store.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

Wait so you expect Apple to keep a store open no matter how bad the location is?

This is so stupid. Unions should just go away. They're a cancer to the business.

Yes...that's exactly what they expect. Union is only mad because they are losing dues paying members.

 

[con2apple]

That took a long time. I didn't expect that.

As a European, I'm torn.

After all, on the other hand, every American seems to love the lack of rights and takes pride in embracing a "hire-and-fire" mentality. (As a number of the initial comments have already shown)
Or does anyone here know of a significant number of Americans who would like to have more rights in the workplace?

I don't understand why employees would organize at a company that has clearly expressed its opposition to unions.

 

[budselectjr]

Wait so you expect Apple to keep a store open no matter how bad the location is?

This is so stupid. Unions should just go away. They're a cancer to the business.

Modern day unions are just communists. They fight for people who want to work low skill jobs meant for teenagers expecting $60/hr.

 

[MGrayson3]

To paraphrase RBG on the overturn of the Voting Rights Act, "You're arguing that because we're not getting wet, we don't need the umbrella anymore."

 

[yaddam205]

Wait so you expect Apple to keep a store open no matter how bad the location is?

This is so stupid. Unions should just go away. They're a cancer to the business.

Do you like having a weekend? Thank unions. There's hundreds of examples of how unions improve work environments for all. Having leverage is the most valuable asset a workforce can have. We don't have it anymore and it needs to be taken back.

 

[surferfb]

I'm pro union, but as someone who lives in Maryland, I'm shocked the Towson location wasn't closed years ago. The mall is dying and there were like three violent crimes on the mall property last year alone. If Annapolis or Bethesda had unionized and was being closed I'd say "absolutely union busting", but not in this scenario.

 

[uiop.]

Two things from the union's statement:

..abandon both its workers and a community that relies on it for critical services and its unique access to public transit.

Huh? What does this Apple Store have to do with public transit? Also, shopping and getting support online is more convenient for those who would otherwise depend on public transit.

We are exploring all legal options and will work with elected officials and allies to hold Apple accountable.

...options of which they have none. It's a dying mall. Apple is allowed to shut down underperforming stores.

 

[torontotim]

Nothing wrong with unions, but also nothing wrong with closing a losing store and dumping a dying mall.

The union has to be 'outraged' to justify the dues it hauls in. They can't do anything about it, but they have to be outraged. It's in the union leadership's job description.

 

[svanstrom]

Apple is evil

Evil-adjacent, but with ambitions.

I think one of the main indicators of where Apple’s moral compass is heading is their clear intention to make more money from ads in core services that their users can’t not use.

It’s the same big bully tactics that they’ve also used against unions. No moral foundation, rather just a willingness to strong arm their way to increased profits.

 

[Entilzha]

…so the hell what? If the store isn’t pulling in the traffic, guess what? It’s gonna close.

If the mall is dying, Apple has no reason to stay. The presence of a union or the union’s opinion matter exactly zero.

 

[Edgecrusherr]

If only we still had a government that was for the people, not for the billionaires and corporations, there could potentially be some kind of action in place to make sure this wasn’t really a spiteful move on Apple‘s part. Apple Store retail employees are very much underpaid and overworked, as our most of the general USA population. We’re only making a fraction of what our parents and grandparents made, while these corporations get richer and more powerful.

 

[guzhogi]

Nothing wrong with unions, but also nothing wrong with closing a losing store and dumping a dying mall.

I agree. I would say that the unionized store's employees should at least have the same right to be relocated as the two other stores' employees, and not just "You're welcome to apply for open positions."

I've seen some places where, without unions, employers would make the employees have to pay more for health insurance, yet the management themselves get their health insurance 100% covered and paid for by the company. I understand the "Don't like it, leave" mentality, but that should be a last resort, not a first & only resort.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Get rid of the unions. They had a place and time and it's not in an Apple store.

We need unions now, more than ever.

 

[ghanwani]

Starbucks seems to be doing the same.

 

[HouseLannister]

Apple said employees at the Towson store will be eligible to apply for open roles at Apple in accordance with their collective bargaining agreement

So blame the union, not Apple. You pay dues to a union to have more bargaining power, right? So they did a poor job negotiating? I've never been in a union. Am I misunderstanding what they are supposed to be doing? I assume it is just like me giving money to my HOA and then they just blow it on pizza parties and don't do anything of any value.

 

[johannnn]

As a European I love unions. But of course Apple should be able to close a store in a dying mall. The union being “ Outraged” is just stupid

 

[jaster2]

Apple could have gotten out ahead of this by stating why the Towson employees were having to take a different route to continuing employment due to their collective bargaining agreement. BTW I'm not in a union but definitely pro union.

 

[Happy_John]

…so the hell what? If the store isn’t pulling in the traffic, guess what? It’s gonna close.

If the mall is dying, Apple has no reason to stay. The presence of a union or the union’s opinion matter exactly zero.

No, it’s crazy to keep a branch of a business open if it is loss-making and there is no realistic hope of business improving.

I don’t really understand the union’s angle here - representing and supporting the workforce to balance out management is a good thing, but surely the union should be focusing on getting compensation / retraining / appropriate re-positioning for the workers losing their jobs rather than trying to keep an unprofitable branch open? Keeping an unprofitable branch open doesn’t have any long-term benefit for either workers nor management.

 

[nikon1]

In light of the mall business dying and the local area crime rising I’d say Apple is making the 100% correct decision. It is Apple’s business to generate profits for its survival and its stockholders. Why should they be expected to support a non-profitable location?

Union — No say in that business decision. Close the store.

 

[seek3r]

Usually I’m the guy to get irritated about union busting but in this case it really does seem to be more that the mall itself is the problem, not Apple targeting the union