IAM Files NLRB Charge Against Apple Over Towson Transfers

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers filed an unfair labor practice charge against Apple with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday, accusing the company of discriminating against unionized employees at its Towson Town Center store in Towson, Maryland, by denying them transfer opportunities offered to workers at two other closing locations.

Apple announced earlier this month that it plans to close the Towson store, along with stores at Trumbull Mall in Trumbull, Connecticut, and North County in Escondido, California, by June. The company attributed the decisions to declining conditions at the shopping malls, including the departure of other retailers and reduced foot traffic. While employees at the non-unionized Trumbull and North County stores will transfer to nearby Apple retail locations, Towson workers, numbering nearly 90, must apply for open positions like external candidates, in line with their collective bargaining agreement.

The Towson store, the first U.S. Apple retail location to unionize, joined the IAM's Coalition of Organized Retail Employees in June 2022 following a union election victory. A first contract was reached in August...