National Labor Relations Board. Image source: NLRB
Apple’s appeal against the NLRB ruling suggesting Apple engaged in union-busting actions at the World Trade Center store in May 2022 has succeeded on both counts.
There has been a years-long battle between Apple and unions that has quieted recently, but that doesn’t mean everything has settled. A ruling Apple appealed in 2023 over union-busting accusations has finally been decided.
According to the ruling, shared by Courthouse Newsthe Fifth Circuit court has ruled that Apple didn’t violate labor laws at the World Trade Center store.
There were two specific violations cited by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) — a worker was interrogated over unions, and union material was removed from the break area.
The 25-page ruling goes to great lengths to explain the play-by-play of what happened, what each party said, and why it believes Apple is in the right. To summarize, a higher-up talking to an employee before a shift on a regular pre-work checkup, where the employee brought up unions on their own, isn’t an interrogation nor a violation of labor laws.
The employee also allegedly lied about his association with the union efforts, which the NLRB stated was due to a fear of reprisal. However, the court found that in the employee’s statement, they said they wanted to keep the union efforts under wraps.
The second union-busting accusation centered around flyers being thrown away or shredded nearly immediately after placing them in a break area. Apple provided numerous examples that they have an unwritten cleanliness rule about not leaving any material in the break area, be it union flyers or advertisements for a local opera.
The consistent efforts by Apple’s managers to keep the break room clean contradicted the idea that the cleanliness rule was meant to attack union efforts. Apple also didn’t stop employees from handing out flyers off hours, outside of work, or wearing Communications Workers of America (CWA) bracelets.
The Fifth Circuit judge ruled that the evidence provided by the NLRB doesn’t support their original finding and reverses it. This is just one case of many brought about by the NLRB over Apple and unions, but the other cases are also facing issues after a controversial NLRB appointment earlier in 2025.