Reuters: Apple ready to bargain with new union

Apple reportedly plans to bargain with the first of its U.S. stores that has voted to unionize.

Employees at Apple’s store in Towson, Md., recently voted 65-33 to unionize, making it the first of the tech giant’s 270-plus U.S. stores in the United States to do so. The 65 employees voted in favor of being represented by a new union — Apple Coalition of Organized Retail Employees — that will be part of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, an industrial trade union.

According to a report by Reuters, Apple accepts the outcome of the vote by Maryland store workers and intends to participate in the bargaining process in "good faith."

Employees of more than two dozen Apple stores have expressed interest in unionizing in recent months according to union leaders, reported the New York Times. In May, Apple said it was raising the starting pay for its U.S. retail employees to $22 an hour, up from $20. Depending on the region, some stores may have higher starting pay.

[Read More: Apple raising starting pay to $22 an hour for U.S. workers]

The tech giant accepts the outcome of a vote by Maryland store workers to become its first U.S. employees to join a union and is ready to bargain with them, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.