Some Apple Store employees are pushing to formally unionize with the National Labor Relations Board, citing discontent with the company's pay, according to a Washington Post report.
Groups at least two Apple retail stores plan to file union paperwork with the NLRB soon, and several other locations are still in talks about unionizing, according to The Washington Post. Apple Store employees said similar unionization efforts among Starbucks workers motivated them to move forward with their own plans.
The employees said their wages haven't kept up with inflation through the years, and they haven't enjoyed the same financial gains as the rest of the company. “I have a lot of co-workers and friends who I genuinely love and they do not make enough to get by,” one labor organizer who works at an Apple Store told The Washington Post.
While no Apple workers have formed official, legally recognized unions, an informal organizing movement called "AppleToo" emerged last year and focused on sharing stories from workers across all parts of the company, including retail.
Apple recently increased pay for some retail employees. Still, Tim Cook makes way more than a typical Apple employee, and brought in $3 million in annual base salary last year. Apple shareholders are urging investors to vote against Cook's pay and bonus package, citing "significant concern" with his stock award last year, according to the Financial Times.