Apple scores win in labor case involving fired retail workers

The National Labor Relations Board sided with Apple in a high-profile case involving fired retail store employees, a rare outcome for the iPhone maker.

Last year, the company terminated five workers who helped organise union activity at its store in Kansas City, Missouri. The workers were dismissed for missing work, showing up late and failing to properly mark their attendance, Apple said. But the Communications Workers of America, CWA, alleged in charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) last year that the workers were actually fired for their unionisation efforts. 

NLRB prosecutors originally dismissed the charges last October, but the union filed an appeal in November. On Thursday, the NLRB rejected the appeal, telling the CWA “that the evidence was insufficient to show that the employer discharged the employees because of their protected activities rather than the legitimate business reasons relied on by the employer.”

An NLRB spokesperson confirmed that the appeal was denied but said that it was still investigating other allegations. The union group alleged that Apple illegally interrogated employees. An Apple spokesperson declined to comment.

Apple has clashed with union groups and the US labor board over the last two years as retail stores in the US push to unionise. So far, only two locations – Oklahoma City and Towson, Maryland – have successfully unionised. A store in Short Hills, New Jersey, is voting this weekend to determine if it should take that step.

Also this weekend, the Towson location will vote on whether to authorise a strike ahead of new bargaining talks with Apple. The two sides have reached a series of agreements, but none of the terms represent a big change from Apple’s existing policies. The union told employees that there are ongoing negotiations regarding pay, overtime, unpaid leave of absences, time-away benefits and scheduling.

Earlier this month, the US National Labor Relations Board ruled that Apple illegally interrogated staff at its World Trade Center store in New York City. BLOOMBERG