Towson Town Center's Apple Store employees, who made history last year by becoming the first of the company's retail locations to unionize, are poised to break new ground with a proposed contract they'll vote on next month. According to WBALTV, the forthcoming vote on August 6 will determine the adoption of a three-year collective bargaining contract, which includes a 10% pay increase among other benefits.

These 85 employees stand at the forefront of a nationwide trend of retail worker unionization, and their actions may set a precedent for other stores. This landmark agreement was reached after the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers' Coalition of Organized Retail Employees (IAM CORE) at the Towson store authorized a strike in May. Eric Brown, a Towson Apple Store employee and member of the bargaining team, provided a local perspective stating that the pandemic underscored how little influence workers had in decision-making processes, leading to all-time low morale in the early days of the pandemic, as reported by WMAR.

However, the significance of this deal extends beyond Towson. Andrew Ziaja, a law professor with expertise in labor and employment law at the University of Baltimore, described this agreement as a 'huge first step' for the retail industry at large. Ziaja praised the deal's scheduling provisions and envisioned its potential ripple effects, suggesting that employees at other major stores might view this as a benchmark, as they seek similar agreements. Despite attempts to reach out, Apple has yet to comment on the matter according to WMAR.