This month, Apple and the Communication Workers of America (CWA) came to a tentative agreement for a first contract, making Oklahoma City Apple Store workers the second group to do so. These workers will vote on Sept. 22, but is this really a win for them two years after unionizing? The contract includes an 11.5% wage increase over three years, health benefits, job protections, and a grievance and arbitration process.
Let’s compare that to the union results at Towson, Maryland’s Apple Store. In 2023, the International Association of Machinists (IAM) bragged about a “historic three-year agreement” for 10% wage increases over three years. The agreement did include protections for workers to receive 12 hours of rest between shifts and 10% premiums for late shifts. Still, on a baseline level, a 10% raise over three years is virtually equal to the 3% “standard” boosts seen annually throughout the U.S. workforce. Nor is 11.5% much better, especially when workers pay union dues for these results.
The wage-focused results of these CWA and IAM contracts are nothing to write home about, and we will see if this impacts whether workers at other Apple stores choose to take the union plunge going forward.
Some more recent CWA developments with mixed results for workers:
Microsoft: In late July, 1,750 video game workers at World of Warcraft and Bethesda Game Studios voted to join CWA along with 60 quality assurance workers from Blizzard Entertainment in Texas. The union honeymoon did not last long for the reasons described below.
The CWA enthusiastically expressed support for the Xbox owner’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard but is now voicing disapproval for job losses that are primarily due to the merger. That is, Microsoft Gaming has announced layoffs of 3% of its global workforce, or around 650 workers.
Microsoft had previously pledged to remain neutral on unions during organizing campaigns and to collaborate with unions to avoid “public disputes.” Perhaps that accounts for the CWA’s enthusiasm for the merger, although they surely had dollar signs in their eyes and ignored the fact that mergers often lead to redundancy and job losses.
In an awkwardly worded statement, CWA concedes that “union representation does not always protect against layoffs” but insists that union representation is invaluable because it “give[s] workers a voice,” which will come as little comfort to workers who lost their jobs.
AT&T: 17,000 workers returned to work this week after a month-long strike in nine states, impacting metro areas including New Orleans and Atlanta. The strike ended with a tentative five-year deal for 19-22% pay increases after the walkout led to widespread service delays and outages, which granted the union more leeway to bargain.
Verizon plans to acquire rival Frontier Communications to expand fiber coverage and provide more reliable service for customers. The CWA issued a statement about “analyzing this deal closely,” so stay tuned.
Audubon Society Workers: 260 workers represented by Bird Union-CWA will soon vote on a tentative first contract that took two years to reach.
A parting tidbit: AFL-CIO leaders met with company executives this week for a two-day AI Labor Summit, where Microsoft agreed to integrate union feedback into AI development in the future. Will the CWA flub that, too? Maybe!
