APPLE employees in Scotland have become the first to unionise their branch of the US tech giant.
Staff at the Apple shop in Glasgow’s Buchanan Street have made the “historic” move by achieving trade union representation at their workplace.
GMB, which now represents workers at the company’s Glasgow store, have said the workforce have made the case they are “pro-worker and not anti-employer” and that employees are looking forward to “working productively with the employer”.
Apple has reportedly fought against workplace organising in the US, with the Communications Workers of America Union telling Reuters earlier this year the company had told workers unionising was “futile” before employees at a store in Oklahoma voted to unionise.
There is no suggestion Apple attempted to dissuade UK workers from unionising.
Apple has said they are one of the highest-paying retailers in Scotland and employees benefit from “industry-leading” benefits.
John Slaven, an organiser with GMB Scotland, said: “This is an absolutely historic moment and testament to the hard work of the activists and workers in at the Buchanan Street store – it’s another compelling new chapter in the trade union story that’s being written across the world in Apple.
“The workforce has spoken in a loud and clear voice to achieve recognition, making the case that they are pro-worker and not anti-employer, and that trade unionism should be a normal and welcome feature of any workplace in any industry.”
Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland Secretary, said trade unionism was “in the DNA” of Glasgow.
She added: “GMB is proud to give Apple workers a banner to organise under so they can make work better for themselves, we look forward to supporting them in their trade union journey, in working productively with the employer, and we congratulate them again on their tremendous achievement.”
An Apple spokesperson said: “We have long been committed to providing an excellent experience for our customers and teams. Apple is one of the highest paying retailers in Scotland and we’ve regularly made enhancements to our industry-leading benefits as a part of the overall support we provide to our valued team members.”
