Most jobs at Apple retail aren’t entry level and most aren’t part time.
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Apple Holds Meeting With Retail Staff to Discuss Recent Unionization Activities
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Microsoft also doesn’t run any retail stores. Well, not anymore.
Not all unions are created equally. A union for some store worker is OK in my book. A union for a police officer is not.
The question is whether or not entry level part time retail jobs receive “higher salaries, payed absent if you’re sick, parental leave and many more benefits.” Because it’s one thing to say that a developer, or other professional gets higher salaries (because those pay higher salaries in the US as well) and it’s another entirely to say that, in other countries, part time retail work also sees paid parental leave, etc. I didn’t say anything about Apple.
Employees who are treated well rarely (if ever) vote to unionize.
Employees who feel valued by their employer in proportion to the work they do rarely (if ever) vote to unionize.
I started my career in a union shop. Worked in my line of work in both union and non union shops. Both as management and “labor”.
On all fronts, I prefer to work in a union shop, and prefer to deal with unionized employees as a customer and a client.
The non union shops I worked in, the employees were treated like dog crap. Wages were low. Raises non existent. Equipment and training were shoddy. Morale was terrible. It was reflected in employee performance and attitude.
The union shop I have (and currently) work at is infinitely better because of the union. Employee wages, accountability of both staff and management, equipment, and training are all better because of the union. Management knows they will be accountable when making decisions. This leads to better decisions by management and a better organization.
Those not in the collective bargaining unit see their wages rise because the wages of the employees below them that are in a CBA rise at co tract time, and salary compression becomes an issue.
Just last year, the management at my employer voted to unionize and join the rank and file as soon as the law allowed it. These are employees who chose management positions after being in the union, accepting promotions they knew would force them out of the CBA but saw a need to fill a leadership vacuum.
The vote to join was unanimous and they quickly went to a successful contract.
Unions aren’t the end all be all, and hey I get that a lot of unions are way too Uber political. I get that unions protect certain crappy employees. But as a union worker in a union shop, I feel as though it’s worth it…
Employees who feel valued by their employer in proportion to the work they do rarely (if ever) vote to unionize.
I started my career in a union shop. Worked in my line of work in both union and non union shops. Both as management and “labor”.
On all fronts, I prefer to work in a union shop, and prefer to deal with unionized employees as a customer and a client.
The non union shops I worked in, the employees were treated like dog crap. Wages were low. Raises non existent. Equipment and training were shoddy. Morale was terrible. It was reflected in employee performance and attitude.
The union shop I have (and currently) work at is infinitely better because of the union. Employee wages, accountability of both staff and management, equipment, and training are all better because of the union. Management knows they will be accountable when making decisions. This leads to better decisions by management and a better organization.
Those not in the collective bargaining unit see their wages rise because the wages of the employees below them that are in a CBA rise at co tract time, and salary compression becomes an issue.
Just last year, the management at my employer voted to unionize and join the rank and file as soon as the law allowed it. These are employees who chose management positions after being in the union, accepting promotions they knew would force them out of the CBA but saw a need to fill a leadership vacuum.
The vote to join was unanimous and they quickly went to a successful contract.
Unions aren’t the end all be all, and hey I get that a lot of unions are way too Uber political. I get that unions protect certain crappy employees. But as a union worker in a union shop, I feel as though it’s worth it…
Exactly! Why ship poverty wage jobs overseas when we can keep them right here at home?! /s 🙄
Better than having fewer jobs (coupled with more expensive commodities).
Not a good look for Apple and kind of depressing. Let people join unions if they want. If unions are so bad then staff will learn and won’t join.
Corporations want to have power and the workers to not have power.
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The word "comfort" is doing so much heavy lifting here that it just qualified for all of the next Olympic weightlifting events.
It seems like what Apple is actually doubling down on is low-key union busting, which the rest of the article makes clearer:
The unions aren’t going to say, “You may lose your stock purchase discount, stock grants and education support”, they’re only going to provide all the upsides. The right day to find out that there MAY be downsides to joining a union is not after the vote. And, the above IS likely… if you look at the list of demands from the survey, none of them mention education support, stock grants or stock purchase discounts. If the union agrees to exchange those for higher wages, then those interested in education support now won’t get it.
I really cannot understand why there is so much opposition to unions in the USA. You have some of the worst working conditions in the developed world. Nearly all the benefits that workers in the UK and EU have is thanks to the unions and the Labour movement. Without them people in the UK and EU would not have benefits such as 28 days paid holiday per year, sick pay, paid maternity and paternity leave, protections against being fired unfairly, free legal representation by the union if I suffer an injury at work or I have a legal dispute with my employer. A trivial point perhaps but my union membership even gets me a discount on some Apple products.
I read horror stories on a daily basis (usually on Reddit) about the way workers are treated by their employers in the USA and it is simply beyond belief that a large number of you are willing to tolerate this in the second quarter of he 21st century.
I read horror stories on a daily basis (usually on Reddit) about the way workers are treated by their employers in the USA and it is simply beyond belief that a large number of you are willing to tolerate this in the second quarter of he 21st century.
You've stated outright that it's likely that employees will lose those things, but you haven't actually provided any evidence to back up how or why that will happen. All you've done is propose a bad hypothetical, say it would be bad (I'm shocked, shocked!), while skipping over that it's common for unions to have democratic processes for their members to agree or reject agreements negotiated anyway, for example:
Union votes to accept Kern Medical contract offer
Potentially averting a labor strike, union workers at Kern Medical voted this week to accept a contract offer that now awaits approval next week by the hospital's directors.
Unspoken truth about unions is that it also makes it difficult to get rid of bad employees, this is exactly why they made headlines back in 2020, look at how many disciplinary reports they had on a bunch of them but nothing was done and were back at work.
Even in the corporation I worked a coworker of mine abused fmla every chance he could and was never at work and when he came in he was doing minimal work, complaining and calling in sick the next day, they fired him twice and the last time it was successful enough that the wrongful termination ended up helping him win 250k in court 🤷
Unions in paper work of course, in my case they did and have seen it in action but one or two bad people can ruin it for everybody for sure
The union-busters will try to say you are replaceable, but those stores are needed for Apple to reach record profits.
Money can't be made without labor. Corporations want to bleed workers dry and rob them of their humanity. They do it in other countries and they do their best to lobby to suck the soul out of workers.
Unions are hated in this country because of decades of violence, harassment, propaganda, and lobbying. It also ties in with the war against any people in this world standing against the neo-liberal capitalist order.
Money can't be made without labor. Corporations want to bleed workers dry and rob them of their humanity. They do it in other countries and they do their best to lobby to suck the soul out of workers.
Unions are hated in this country because of decades of violence, harassment, propaganda, and lobbying. It also ties in with the war against any people in this world standing against the neo-liberal capitalist order.
Nah, that's the status quo which hasn't done workers any favors. Glad to see workers finally banding together to stand up against corporations and their wealthy shareholders.
It is so crazy being in Europe and seeing the brain washing against unions in the US…
I'm sure the more than 10,000 John Deere workers getting 10% raises, and $8,500 bonuses, and a cost of living adjustment, will be along shortly to tell us how angry they are that they got tricked by the concept of collective bargaining:
John Deere Workers Given $8,500 Bonus as Company Buckles to Strike Demands
The employees will receive an immediate pay increase of 10 percent after agreeing to a new six-year deal.
www.newsweek.com
That is, if these engineers in California getting a 7.5% raise and paid family leave don't beat them to it:
New contract for California state union lifts pay by 7.5%, offers family leave in $458M deal
Many state employees are ineligible for California’s landmark paid family leave program. Unions secured no-cost family leave in new deals.
Though I guess the 16,000 British Airways workers here (UK) getting a raise of up to 13%, who are sure to be hopping mad about it could always use use a layover in CA to join them in complaining about how terrible unions are:
Thousands of British Airways workers to get pay rise of up to 13%
Deal for 16,000 workers including cabin crew, engineers and baggage handlers follows strike threat
And while they do it, they can eat chocolate made via the 1,000 Cadbury workers getting up to a 17.5% pay rise, plus 25% more holiday pay here. Though of course, considering how angry they must be at that, it's sure to taste so darned bitter..
Cadbury workers to get 17.5% pay boost, says Unite
More than 1,000 employees will receive the uplift as well as a rise in holiday pay, Unite says.
www.bbc.co.uk
Cool story. How about the millions that have been laid off for no fault of their own due to corporate greed?
I sincerely feel bad for the store managers. The higher ups probably didn’t give them much resources to handle many types of questions from staff. On top of that, I would imagine many managers worked their way up the ladder and know how the staff feel, but can’t do much to help them.
Do you not back the blue or something? Unions are very much needed for the oppressed local police, but not for you or I, and definitely not for the corrupt people at the FBI.
Gee it could be that Apple is a rubbish company to work for and treats it's people like dirt. Oh wait it's not Apple's fault its the employees fault for existing. Why everyone is agains6the employees is crazy. Apple is a terrible place to work.
Worst working conditions? I mean, maybe malls ARE a little colder than they should be, but I wouldn’t call those BAD working conditions.