All of us want to have a job that is safe, has good working conditions, and pays us fairly for our work. Unions play an important role in creating those kinds of opportunities for working Marylanders. Unions allow working people to have a seat at the table in decisions that affect their quality of life and their day-to-day experiences at work.

Over the last few years there has been an uptick in union activity, with workers coming together to form unions in workplaces and industries that have not been unionized before. And research from the Economic Policy Institute documented a sharp increase in strikes and other work stoppages in 2023 along with an increase in the number of Americans who are interested in unions.

In the fall of 2024, Policy Lowdown host Kevin Slayton sat down with two Marylanders who were part of this moment in union history – Eric Brown and Kevin Gallagher. They both worked at the Apple store in Towson when it was the first in the country to unionize in 2022 and the first to win a union contract.

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