Talks between Apple and the union of workers at the Oklahoma City Apple Store have resulted in a tentative agreement that includes new benefits and protections for its staff. The Apple Store at the Penn Square mall in Oklahoma City announced that it has reached a “tentative labor agreement” with Apple and the Communications Workers Union of America (CWA), according to a published statement.
Terms are still being negotiated between the two sides, but the benefits for store employees would be significant. The three-year agreement reached between the CWA and Apple would give employees a pay increase of up to 11.5 percent. An Apple spokesperson said via email that if the contract is ratified, employees would receive a 4 percent raise in the first year of employment and 3 percent in the second and third years each “based on employee performance.”
The deal would also offer employees guaranteed paid time off and health and other benefits, allow employees to have a say in scheduling and establish a “safer and more democratic workplace” through a grievance process with committees overseeing safety, health and labor relations. An Apple spokesperson also noted that scheduling options “have been provided to all other U.S. stores in 2022.”
The Oklahoma City Apple store had been working to form a union, becoming the second U.S. Apple store to unionize. Employees voted unanimously to authorize a strike in August and began picketing in front of the store ahead of bargaining sessions in early September. Workers will vote to ratify the tentative agreement on Sept. 22.
CWA District 6 Vice President Derrick Osobase called the deal a “historic day for our members who have now secured a contract with the most profitable company in the world.”
The Apple Store at Towson Town Center in 2022 became the first to unionize. Members approved the union in 2022 with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). A store at Cumberland Mall in 2022 attempted to form a union with the CWA, but workers called it off, accusing Apple of committing “repeated violations of the National Labor Relations Act.”
