Kentucky Apple store workers announce union effort led by 20-year-old specialist

A fourth group of Apple store workers in the U.S. have announced their plans to form a union, and believe they already have enough support to win an election.

According to a paywalled Bloomberg Law report, the workers at Apple's Oxmoor Center Mall store in the U.S. have today publicly announced their plans to unionize. A preview of the report states:

Workers at an Apple store in Louisville, Ky., are forming a union—and may even have enough support to win an election, according to the group's leader.

As the report notes this is the fourth such group of employees to publicly declare unionization efforts. Surprisingly, the workers are being led by a 20-year-old retail specialist by the name of Jay Hedgspeth. The report states that "workers are motivated to unionize by pandemic burnout, low pay relative to Apple's profits, and an increasingly metrics-driven culture that has left employees feeling disconnected from their work."

A LinkedIn profile for Hedgspeth reveals he has been a part-time specialist at the Louisville store since November 2021.

Three other Apple stores have already gone public with their plans to form unions to try and establish more favorable working conditions at Apple stores in the U.S.. Apple has reportedly issued retail store managers with anti-union talking points, and has been accused of heavy-handed union-busting tactics in stores in New York and Atlanta. filings from the Communications Workers of America sent to the National Labor Relations Board allege that Apple held mandatory anti-union speeches, restricted staff from posting fliers, and "interrogated" team members. Similarly, Apple was accused of holding "captive audience" meetings at its Cumberland Mall store in Atlanta.

Previously in a statement to iMore Apple said "We are fortunate to have incredible retail team members and we deeply value everything they bring to Apple. We are pleased to offer very strong compensation and benefits for full-time and part-time employees, including health care, tuition reimbursement, new parental leave, paid family leave, annual stock grants, and many other benefits."

iMore has reached out to the company for further comment on today's news.