Mayor presses Apple over Towson closure impact on union staff

Apple’s June – Baltimore’s mayor has joined lawmakers and the union in urging Apple to reconsider the June 20 closure of its first unionized Apple Store in Towson. The push centers on a fear that about 100 unionized employees will lose opportunities in the region, with deman

The morning after another store goes dark, the first thing people notice isn’t the lights—it’s the jobs. In Baltimore’s Towson neighborhood, that anxiety is now landing directly on Apple’s door.

On June 20. Apple’s first unionized Apple Store in Towson is set to close. alongside two other stores in other regions. Those locations are described as being inside failing malls. For Towson. the fight isn’t about foot traffic alone; it’s about what happens to the employees who helped keep the store running.

The Mayor of Baltimore has added his voice to the growing pressure. sharing a statement on social media that calls on Apple to reconsider closing the Towson store—or. at minimum. provide employees better options in the region. The demands mirror earlier pressure from Congress and an Unfair Labor Practice charge. but the focus is pointed: Apple should ensure the closure doesn’t leave unionized workers with a dead end.

The mayor’s statement frames the Towson store as important to the area. in part because it’s one of the most transit-accessible Apple locations. He argues that if Apple closes Towson. it “walks away from the communities that helped build its success. and pushes critical services further out of reach.”.

To stop that outcome. the mayor’s demands present Apple with three paths. all built around one central promise: keeping roughly 100 workers employed. One option is straightforward—Apple should allow Towson employees to transfer to other nearby stores. the way other employees have the right to do. Another is a longer-term fix: open a new store in the area. The third option is the bluntest: don’t close the Towson store at all.

Apple believes it is acting properly. When the union was formed. new contracts were negotiated. including provisions that would allow workers to be rehired if a new store was built within 50 miles of Towson. Those employees would be given first access to apply to the new store in the event Towson closed.

But the dispute is that the new contract is being tested against a scenario it may not have been designed to cover: Apple closing the store with no new store planned or in place. Under Apple’s contracts for non-unionized employees, there’s a different mechanism. Those agreements include a provision that allows staff to transfer to nearby stores without reapplying.

Towson Store members say Apple told them they can’t use that same transfer path because their contract doesn’t include it. Instead, Apple has told employees they will have to reapply to a different store.

That’s where the conflict sharpens. The complaints from the union and from Congress suggest Apple has chosen to close Towson as a way to penalize unionized members rather than because of the store’s performance. If that allegation can be proven in court through discovery, the damage could be significant—particularly to Apple’s reputation.

Still, there’s another piece in the mix: AppleInsider has confirmed that the area around Apple Towson has become a ghost town. That detail feeds the argument that the decision may align with broader store strategy, not just labor dynamics.

Closing the store, the logic goes, might be “probably” consistent with how Apple has handled other mall locations. The company has already closed many mall stores, and it has been focusing on building new standalone stores. But for the workers who are scheduled to be left behind on June 20. the difference between strategy and retaliation is exactly what’s being fought over.

With Apple Towson set to close on June 20 unless something changes, employees are being pushed toward difficult next steps—while the mayor, lawmakers, and the union press Apple to offer options that would keep their jobs alive.

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