The Mayor of Baltimore has added his voice to the many telling Apple it needs to reconsider either closing the Towson store or at least giving its employees better opportunities in the region.

On June 20, Apple’s first unionized Apple Store will close alongside two other stores in other regions. They’re all stores in failing malls, but the problem with Towson in particular is the lack of options employees are getting.

An official statement from the mayor of Baltimore was shared to social media, first seen by 9to5Mac, charging Apple to do better by the Apple Towson employees. As with previous statements from Congress and an Unfair Labor Practice charge, the demands are for Apple to take one of three approaches.

Either Apple allows Towson employees to transfer to other nearby stores like other employees have the right to do, plans to open a new store in the area, or don’t bother closing the Towson store. The result would be the same — the continued employment of around 100 workers.

The mayor’s statement suggests that the Apple Towson store is important to the region, as it is one of the most transit-accessible Apple locations. If Apple closes Towson, the Mayor says “it walks away from the communities that helped build its success, and pushes critical services further out of reach.”

Apple believes it is in the right

When the union was formed, new contracts were negotiated that included provisions that would allow workers to be rehired if a new store was built within 50 miles of Towson. Those employees would get first dibs on applying to the new store in the event of Towson closing.

However, it seems the new contract did not account for Apple simply closing the store with no new store planned or in place. Apple contracts, the ones for non-unionized employees, have a provision that allows staff to transfer to nearby stores without reapplying.

Apple has told Towson Store members that since their contract doesn’t have that provision, they’ll have to reapply to a different store. The complaints from IAM and Congress suggest that Apple has specifically chosen to close Towson to punish the unionized members, not because of store performance.

If this can be proved in court via discovery, it would cause a lot of damage to Apple’s reputation. However, AppleInsider has confirmed that the area around Apple Towson has become a ghost town.

Closing the store probably makes sense for Apple, especially since it has already done so with many mall stores. The company has been focusing on building new standalone stores.

Apple Towson will close on June 20 unless something changes. It seems Apple is adamant about this decision, so employees may need to consider next steps.