Unionization in Retail: Seeking Alpha Sees Apple as Bellwether

Apple Towson Town Center - Image via Apple

28 JUNE 2022 - As Apple goes, so goes Starbucks? That’s sort of the question posed by a piece from Seeking Alpha (via Apple Stocks). A little over a week ago, Apple Towson Town Center became the first Apple Store in the states to form a union. Apple had a week after that to challenge the store’s union vote, something it apparently declined to do. Now, Seeking Alpha indicates that Apple’s action (or inaction) on the vote may be a bellwether for corporate America. Noting the push at other Apple stores toward unionization, the piece points out that:

…the implications likely extend beyond just Apple and its expansive retail operations in the United States. The push for worker organization has been a key trend across many of the nation’s largest employers, including Starbucks, Amazon, Alphabet, and more. 

The piece says the push for unions hit big around the start of the pandemic in 2020. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics says such moves returned to normal levels in 2021. “As Apple and many others contend with pushes to organize,” Seeking Alpha says, “those rates may once again be on the rise.”