In 2022, an Apple Store outside of Baltimore became the first in the U.S. to unionize, fueled by worker frustrations over how they were treated during the pandemic. Two years later, they won a contract that enshrined protections that seemed designed to enable other workers to follow in their footsteps. The contract secured a cap on the number of temporary workers Apple could hire and carved out a process by which the union could pursue cases on behalf of workers who they believed had been unfairly disciplined or dismissed.
But those wins may have proved misleading.
This week, the store permanently shut its doors—a decision that Apple justified by citing the “departure of several retailers and declining conditions” at the mall where it was located. The store closure will leave over half of the store’s 70 unionized workers without a job, according to a report in The New York Times.
Apple did give workers the option to find employment at another location, but they were required to apply for the job rather than simply being transferred.
The union representing those workers—the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM)—has framed this as retaliation, arguing that Apple had not allowed those workers to easily transfer to another store location. In a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board, the union claimed Apple had “discriminated against IAM-represented workers in regards to their terms and conditions of employment in order to discourage them from exercising their rights.”
For its part, Apple has denied this is retaliation and insists the company is complying with the terms of the collective bargaining agreement that the union reached in 2024, which entitles workers to 12 weeks of severance pay.
“We strongly disagree with the claims made, and we will continue to abide by the agreement that was negotiated and agreed with the union,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement to Fast Company. “We look forward to presenting all of the facts to the NLRB.” The spokesperson added that “Towson employees will be eligible to apply for open roles at Apple in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement.”
Apple used a similar rationale when shuttering two other stores that were housed in malls in Connecticut and California, neither of which were unionized.
A Bloomberg report noted that the Towson mall was 26% vacant and had seen some major retailers, like Banana Republic and Crate & Barrel, close their doors; there have also been reports of violent incidents at the mall. But as the union pointed out, workers at those stores were given the option of transferring to another location.
There is one other unionized Apple Store in Oklahoma City, which remains open. But other organizing efforts have failed to result in a union, though workers at a number of other stores have pursued a union drive or explored the idea.
Since Apple announced this store closure, it has drawn scrutiny and raised questions about whether it was partly intended to curb the union’s power.
In May, Maryland lawmakers asked Apple to explain its decision to close the store and what support the company would offer to the workers who were losing their jobs. A few weeks later, 40 members of Congress wrote to Apple as well and urged the company to reconsider its decision to close the store, framing it as “just the latest move in a union-busting effort.” As retail workers started organizing around 2022, Apple has pushed back on those efforts, prompting multiple complaints from the NLRB that alleged the company was violating labor law.
It’s not clear whether Apple’s decision was solely driven by economic reasons, or whether the union’s presence played a role. Either way, Apple’s decision seems to have sent a message—and it could very likely kneecap organizing efforts at the company just as they were starting to gain traction.