As previously announced, Apple is moving forward with permanently closing three of its retail stores in the U.S. today, including a unionized location.
The locations that are closing on the evening of Saturday, June 20:
- Apple Trumbull in Trumbull, Connecticut
- Apple North County in Escondido, California
- Apple Towson Town Center in Towson, Maryland
In April, Apple said it made the "difficult decision" to close the stores due to "declining conditions" at the shopping malls in which they are located.
Notably, the staff at the Towson Town Center location became Apple's first retail employees in the U.S. to unionize in 2022. They belong to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers' Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE), and they signed a collective bargaining agreement with Apple in 2024.
Apple Towson Town Center
The union and the store's employees have been protesting the planned closure, and some politicians in Maryland have voiced their support.
The union is upset that Apple is allowing non-unionized employees at the Trumbull and North County stores to transfer to nearby locations, but not extending this offer to unionized employees at the Towson location. For its part, Apple said it is simply honoring the terms of the collective bargaining agreement that the employees agreed to.
According to Apple, the contract states that in the event of a store closure, Apple would transfer or rehire employees if the company opened a new store within 50 miles of the current location at Towson Town Center. In any other circumstance, the union negotiated for employees to receive severance, which is being provided.
Apple said it has no current plans to open a new store in the area, but if it were to do so within 18 months after the collective bargaining agreement was ratified, the affected employees would have the right of first refusal.
Nevertheless, IAM has accused Apple of potential union busting and said that the agreement "requires equal treatment."
"Apple workers in Towson voted to join the IAM, fought for and won a contract, and are now being punished for it," said IAM President Brian Bryant. "Apple signed a collective bargaining agreement that requires equal treatment. It is time for Apple to honor that agreement and do right by these workers before June 20."
Towson Town Center is genuinely in a state of decline and has lost many other major retailers in recent years, so it is very likely that Apple is exiting the shopping mall at least partly due to the worsening conditions. Nevertheless, the situation might lead employees at other stores to worry that joining a union does not always work out, and that could be advantageous to Apple given that the company has discouraged unionization.