Maryland Apple store union vote marks latest in labor drives
ASSOCIATED PRESS / JUNE 13
The Activision Blizzard Booth is shown during the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. Video game workers at a division of Activision Blizzard voted to unionize in May, creating the first labor union at a large U.S. video game company after a vote affecting a small group of Wisconsin-based quality assurance testers. Call of Duty developer Raven Software, which is a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, formed a union with 19 “yes” votes.
ASSOCIATED PRESS / FEB. 16
Michelle Eisen, a barista at the Buffalo, N.Y., Elmwood Starbucks location, helps out the local Starbucks Workers United, employees of a local Starbucks, as they gather at a local union hall to cast votes to unionize or not in Mesa, Ariz. In December, a Starbucks store in Buffalo became the first to unionize at one of the coffee retailer’s company-owned U.S. stores. At least 150 of Starbucks’ 9,000 company-run U.S. stores have voted to unionize since then, according to the National Labor Relations Board, and at least 10 stores have rejected the union.
Apple store employees in a Baltimore suburb voted to unionize by a nearly 2-to-1 margin on Saturday. Here’s a look at other unionization drives of the past several months:
STARBUCKS
In December, a Starbucks store in Buffalo became the first to unionize at one of the coffee retailer’s company-owned U.S. stores. At least 150 of Starbucks’ 9,000 company-run U.S. stores have voted to unionize since then, according to the National Labor Relations Board, and at least 10 stores have rejected the union.
AMAZON
Amazon workers in Staten Island, New York, voted to unionize in April, marking the first successful U.S. organizing effort in the retail giant’s history. But a second Staten Island warehouse rejected a union bid about a month later.
ALPHABET
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In January, a group of Google engineers and other workers announced they had formed a union, a rare foothold for the labor movement in the tech industry. The group formed the Alphabet Workers Union last year, which represents around 800 Google employees and is run by five people who are under 35. Alphabet is Google’s parent company.
REI
Workers at a New York City outpost of outdoor clothing and equipment seller REI voted overwhelmingly in March to join a union, the first REI store to do so. Seattle-based REI has more than 170 locations across 41 states and Washington, D.C.
ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
Video game workers at a division of game publisher Activision Blizzard voted to unionize in May, creating the first labor union at a large U.S. video game company after a vote affecting a small group of Wisconsin-based quality assurance testers. Call of Duty developer Raven Software, which is a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, formed a union with 19 “yes” votes.
