Apple’s Unionized Store Wants to Start Accepting Tips from Customers

Workers at Apple Inc.’s unionized store in Maryland are asking for higher pay and additional time off, along with changes that could affect the company’s tightly controlled retail experience, such as letting customers tip employees. 

The employees, represented by the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, are conducting negotiations with Apple on Wednesday and Thursday. Their latest proposal calls for raises of as much as 10%, as well as major changes to the outlet’s vacation policy, bereavement leave and overtime.

The store in Towson was the first Apple retail location in the US to unionize, and other efforts since then haven’t made much headway. Workers at a location in Oklahoma City agreed to unionize, though negotiations with Apple haven’t begun. Efforts in Atlanta and St. Louis were canceled.

In addition to an overall raise, representatives from the store are asking Apple for higher pay over a larger slate of holidays, including the day after Thanksgiving. The union is also seeking to expand vacation pay and available time off based on years of service. And it wants to extend paid bereavement leave from 10 days per occurrence to a maximum of 45 days a year and for the policy to include pets and close friends.

“We realize that this is a negotiation, and these are initial proposals,” the union said in a statement. “Our goal is and always has been to bring back an acceptable contract for the membership to ratify.”

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The workers’ negotiators also want Apple to adopt a tipping system, letting patrons offer gratuities in increments of 3%, 5% or a custom amount for in-store credit-card transactions.

“This will allow thankful patrons the ability to express gratitude for a job well done without any obligations,” the union wrote Apple. “All monies collected through this manner would be dispersed to members of the bargaining unit biweekly based on any hours worked.”

The union is seeking to double pay for staffers who work more than eight hours per day or 40 hours per week. They’re asking for an additional boost for employees who work overtime on weekends.

Finally, the union is asking Apple to pay $1 an hour more to employees who become first-aid certified, and to provide as many as 34 weeks of severance pay in the event of a layoff.

Some of these perks are rare in the retail world. That’s created concern among some employees that negotiations will bog down and prevent workers from getting more critical changes approved. Still, the union says it’s negotiated such perks with other companies.

Separate from economic proposals, the union has reached tentative agreements with Apple regarding a new process to resolve paycheck errors, new language within the company’s nondiscrimination policy, an updated health and safety committee, and a commitment to rehire employees at other locations in the event of a permanent store closing. 

Over the past year, Apple has been engaged in a widespread effort to keep its stores from unionizing. Last month, the company held meetings with US retail employees to update them on negotiations with Towson, with the underlying message that if their store unionizes, they may be at a disadvantage. Apple has also highlighted allegations that union representatives misled employees at the St. Louis store that stopped its efforts.