An Apple store in Oklahoma City is close to ratifying a union contract for its workers

Negotiations between Apple and the Apple Store union in Oklahoma City have resulted in a short-term agreement that includes new benefits and protections for its workers. The Penn Square Mall Apple Store in Oklahoma City has announced that it has reached an “interim labor agreement” with Apple and the Communication Workers of America (CWA), according to a statement.

Terms are still being negotiated between the two parties but the benefits for the store’s employees are significant. The three-year agreement reached between the CWA and Apple will give workers an 11.5 percent wage increase. An Apple spokesperson said in an email that if the contract is approved, employees will receive a 4 percent raise in the first year of employment and 3 percent in each of the second and third years “based on employee performance.”

The agreement will also provide workers with guaranteed paid time off and health and other benefits, allowing workers to have a say in planning and establishing a “safe and democratic workplace” through a grievance system and safety, health and labor relations committees. . An Apple spokesperson also noted that the programming options were “offered to all other US stores by 2022.”

The Oklahoma City Apple Store has been working to form a union, becoming the second Apple store in the US to unionize. Workers passed a strike authorization vote in August that passed with unanimous support and began picketing in front of the store ahead of bargaining sessions in early September. Workers will vote to approve the proposed deal on September 22.

CWA District 6 Vice President Derrick Osobase called the deal “a historic day for our members who now have a contract with the most profitable company in the world.”

The Apple store in Towson Town Center was the first meeting point. Members approved a union in 2022 with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). The Cumberland Mall store tried to form a union in 2022 with the CWA but the workers withdrew accusing Apple of “repeated violations of the National Labor Law.