Negotiations between Apple and the Apple Store union in Oklahoma City have reached a preliminary agreement that includes new benefits and protections for its workers. The Penn Square Mall Apple Store in Oklahoma City has announced that it has reached a “tentative labor agreement” with Apple and the Communications Workers of America (CWA), according to a release.
Terms are still being negotiated between the two parties, but the benefits for the store’s employees will be significant. The three-year agreement between the CWA and Apple calls for an 11.5 percent increase in workers’ wages. If the deal is ratified, employees will receive a 4 percent raise in the first year of employment and a 3 percent raise each “based on employee performance” in the second and third years, an Apple spokesman said in an email.
The agreement will also offer workers guaranteed paid time off, health and other benefits, and give workers a say in planning and creating a “safer and more democratic workplace” through a grievance process with safety, health and labor relations committees. . An Apple spokesperson noted that the scheduling options are “rolling out to all other US stores in 2022.”
The Oklahoma City Apple Store was working to create unity It was the second Apple Store to merge in the United States. Workers passed a strike authorization vote that passed unanimously in August and began picketing outside the store ahead of bargaining meetings in early September. Workers will vote on September 22 to ratify the tentative agreement.
CWA Region 6 Vice President Derrick Osobase called the deal “a historic day for our members who now have a contract with the most profitable company in the world.”
The Apple Store at Towson Town Center was the first place to join. Members approved a union with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) in 2022. A store at Cumberland Mall In 2022, they tried to form a union with the CWA, but the workers called it off, accusing Apple of “repeated violations of the National Labor Relations Act.”
