Retail sector eyes Apple’s decision to bargain with new union
jacoblund/iStock via Getty Images

Appleâs (NASDAQ:AAPL) decision to abide by the decision to unionize by Maryland store employees is a move monitored closely across the retail space.
According to Reuters, the Cupertino, California-based tech giant will not challenge the decision by the store workers in the Old Line state. 
The company had previously attempted to stave off unionization efforts by increasing wages for retail workers and offering more flexible work schedules in a preemptive move. Additionally, leaked memos revealed threats made by executives about the curtailed upward mobility of employees pushing for unions. These actions, to adjust wages and schedules at least, mirrored actions by major retailers like Target (TGT) that are contending with their own union issues.
Nonetheless, Reuters reports that resistance to the successful union vote will not be offered, with executives instead ready to bargain.
The successful organizing efforts add to ongoing steps toward unionization at other Apple locations, including a union push in New York and a recently-rescinded plan in Georgia.
However, the implications likely extend beyond just Apple (AAPL) and its expansive retail operations in the United States. The push for worker organization has been a key trend across many of the nationâs largest employers, including Starbucks (SBUX), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), and more. 
While unionization rose significantly amidst the pandemic, those rates normalized into 2021, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. As Apple (AAPL) and many others contend with pushes to organize, those rates may once again be on the rise. 
In a still-tight labor market in 2022, strikes and labor protests have risen significantly. According to data from the Cornell-ILR Labor Action Tracker, over 500 strikes have taken place since the start of the year with retail and food services making up nearly a quarter of those actions. Starbucks (SBUX) employees alone have accounted for 46 protests or strikes under the Workers United banner, per the tracker.
Read more on Starbucks' battle with unionization efforts across the nearly 200 locations that have announced steps toward organization.