Apple has permanently closed the Towson Town Center store in Maryland, the first Apple retail location in the United States to successfully unionize. The closure, which took effect around June 21, is now the subject of an unfair labor practice charge filed with the National Labor Relations Board.
The store’s roughly 70 unionized employees organized under the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in June 2022, making national headlines at the time. Now, over half of those workers have reportedly lost their jobs, with the majority offered no transfer to other Apple locations.
What Apple says, and what the union says
Apple attributed the shutdown to “declining conditions” at the Towson Town Center mall. The company pointed to a wave of retailer departures from the shopping center, rising local crime rates, and the broader shift toward online shopping as justification for pulling the plug.
The IAM sees it differently. The union filed its charge with the NLRB alleging that Apple retaliated against workers specifically for their organizing efforts.
