Apple Holds Meeting With Retail Staff to Discuss Recent Unionization Activities

[PrecisionGem]

Why does the US have such an aversion to unions?

Unions don’t always mean better wages and conditions for workers in the USA. Many companies here offer profit sharing and employee ownership, which can work out much better for the workers.

Unions are good for less motivated and ambitious workers. THey tend to promote mediocrity. High performing workers suffer under a union as advancement is almost always based on seniority rather than performance.

 

[Kevin2055]

Do you know why American car makers struggle to survive and Japanese car makers win? Union!

 

[Breaking Good]

Terrible.

I’ll be shopping elsewhere at most of these union shops popping up.

You do you, Boo.

Meanwhile I will go out of my way to shop at an Apple Retail Store that is unionized and will not cross a picket line if they need to strike.

But maybe I'm biased. It was the union benefits that my I.B.E.W. sisters and brothers fought and negotiated for that allowed me to go to college had have the career I have today.

In this day and age, any company that ends up with it's workers unionizing deserves it. You don't pull in gobs of money like Apple and then treat your front-line hourly employees like crap so you can eek out an extra .00001% of profit.

 

[PrecisionGem]

What do you think the significance is of whether employees are in the retail sector or not? Do you not think that retail employees deserve benefits, vacation, a decent wage, etc? Or do you think they should just f🍎ck off and get you your latte like good little plebs?

So if the high school kid working at Starbucks was making $45 per hour, with 4 weeks vacation fully paid health care, 401K and a pension, how much do you think your latte would cost?

 

[mikethemartian]

Why does the US have such an aversion to unions?

Personally I’m neutral and think everyone is entitled to make their own business decisions whether good or bad.

 

[I7guy]

You literally just said you don’t care about US employees so long as it keeps your prices low. Corporate slavery with slave wages and slave benefits is not an acceptable trade-off to me for lower prices.

And prices wouldn’t *have* to increase. Apple made something like $60 billion in profit last year. It would eat into their margins very little to pay better and allow better benefits.

It’s this defeatist mindset that allows everything to be about shareholders, shareholders, shareholders. The ratio of humanity vs. money-making is way out of whack in our current form of capitalism.

What are slave wages vs the jobs that are being done. How can anyone tell anyone else how to spend their money?

 

[vipergts2207]

So if the high school kid working at Starbucks was making $45 per hour, with 4 weeks vacation fully paid health care, 401K and a pension, how much do you think your latte would cost?

Do you seriously think a Starbucks union would expect to negotiate much less receive $45/hr and all those fringe benefits? It’s almost like there’s an ocean between the ridiculous hyperbole you laid out and where Starbucks workers are at now.

 

[mikethemartian]

Starbucks is slowly shutting down all its union stores. Many union workers get lazy and entitled and they will disrupt the whole store so they are just not worth the hassle and Apple should just shut any union stores down or automate as much as possible.

Anything that gets Starbucks to shutdown stores can’t be all that bad.

 

[Bawstun]

What are slave wages vs the jobs that are being done. How can anyone tell anyone else how to spend their money?

Unions and the minimum wage law itself were created because women seamstresses were being paid pennies and starvation wages. I don’t pretend to know what is fair and what isn’t, but companies fighting back against unionization efforts speaks volumes as to how much better it is for the workers, otherwise corporations would not care.

 

[Fowl]

Late last week, Apple retail employees nationwide were invited to an FAQ-style meeting where store management attempted to answer questions on Apple Towson and create an open environment to discuss unions.

The day when Apple retail employees can set up a meeting during work hours and invite management to chat about the pros and cons of Towson, is the day when unionizing will not be necessary.

 

[macduke]

Always support employees over employers. Always support unions. Vote union, at your company and at the ballot box!

 

[Unregistered 4U]

People need to be aware that if they want the benefits that a union provide they will need to be in the union. It’s a lot easier for an employer to bully an employee who is not in a union, but union is not for everyone.

Just FYI, in the US, there are states where you CAN get the benefits of the union without being in the union.

 

[vipergts2207]

Just FYI, in the US, there are states where you CAN get the benefits of the union without being in the union.

I thought unions didn’t offer any benefits?

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Yes, because retail workers shouldn’t get to enjoy the benefits a union offers. And while corporations would love people to believe that, retail workers have the benefit of it being impossible to shop their jobs overseas.

Yeah, but retail workers are also FAR more replaceable than aerospace engineers or machinists. AND those retail jobs require FAR less skill, education and, in the case of machinists, far less risk of physical harm or death. The union can actually hope to WIN something with engineers, machinists and other professional jobs as the company knows if they walk, they’re not easily replaced.

Comparing the bargaining clout of those other jobs to that of a retail worker downplays those jobs significantly.

 

[jakey rolling]

So if the high school kid working at Starbucks was making $45 per hour, with 4 weeks vacation fully paid health care, 401K and a pension, how much do you think your latte would cost?

Probably pretty much the same as it does now. Because pricing is rarely based on cost, but are rather based on the absolute highest that they think the market will bear.

 

[vipergts2207]

Yeah, but retail workers are also FAR more replaceable than aerospace engineers or machinists. AND those retail jobs require FAR less skill, education and, in the case of machinists, far less risk of physical harm or death. The union can actually hope to WIN something with engineers, machinists and other professional jobs as the company knows if they walk, they’re not easily replaced.

Comparing the bargaining clout of those other jobs to that of a retail worker downplays those jobs significantly.

I still find local restaurants that are closed inside with only the drive-thru open because they don’t have enough employees. There’s never been a better time for all these “replaceable” employees to collectively bargain than now.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

What do you think the significance is of whether employees are in the retail sector or not? Do you not think that retail employees deserve benefits, vacation, a decent wage, etc? Or do you think they should just f🍎ck off and get you your latte like good little plebs?

They get vacation. By all reports, they get a wage at or above the median for the job. AND they get benefits, all of which you can read here if you still believe Apple employees get no vacation, no benefits, work 80 hours a week for 3 dollars an hour… no overtime!

Careers at Apple: Join our Apple Retail community.

Learn about the roles, benefits, and career growth you can experience.

www.apple.com

They don’t have NO benefits, they don’t have BAD benefits, they have GOOD benefits. If they want to have a union good for them (I DO hope they end up with good representation, though the survey they sent out gives me pause), but if there is a thinking that the union will yield the same benefits to those retail employees as they do to engineers with PhD’s, there’s going to be some surprises come negotiation time (I hope their negotiation skills are better than their employee survey skills).

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Do you seriously think a Starbucks union would expect to negotiate much less receive $45/hr and all those fringe benefits? It’s almost like there’s an ocean between the ridiculous hyperbole you laid out and where Starbucks workers are at now.

Is there, though? Essentially what it comes down to is folks have retail jobs and they want a level of pay, usually relegated to jobs that require more education, that will allow them to have that one job and pay all their bills. In some areas, with the real estate market and cost of living as it is, $45/hr wouldn’t be completely out of bounds.

I thought unions didn’t offer any benefits?

Unions offer a myriad number benefits for those employees that are under them. I direct you to google, you can find lots of informations about the benefits of unions!

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I still find local restaurants that are closed inside with only the drive-thru open because they don’t have enough employees. There’s never been a better time for all these “replaceable” employees to collectively bargain than now.

That’s not retail, that’s foodservice. There are several different markets for jobs and it seems like no one wants to talk about retail.

 

[Mr. Dee]

As the son of a prominent trade unionist, I have witnessed first hand how important unions are to the rights of workers. Apple knows they are gonna have to treat their workers better. Those working in retail are the ones who sell these products and make the trillions. No the programs or design studio. Yes, Apple products in some ways sell themselves, but its the experience of being welcomed, informed and guided along the way to making your purchase. Thats a hard act to put on day in day out. A wonderful Apple store employee at the U-Village in Seattle showed a high level of knowledge, friendliness and curtesy throughout our time in the store. Making minimum wage is not easy.

 

[NY Guitarist]

The anti-union propaganda hysteria in this thread is quite entertaining.

 

[vipergts2207]

Is there, though? Essentially what it comes down to is folks have retail jobs and they want a level of pay, usually relegated to jobs that require more education, that will allow them to have that one job and pay all their bills. In some areas, with the real estate market and cost of living as it is, $45/hr wouldn’t be completely out of bounds.

There’s not an ocean of difference between $27k/year and $94k/year? Sure buddy.

Unions offer a myriad number benefits for those employees that are under them. I direct you to google, you can find lots of informations about the benefits of unions!

Agreed, retail employees should take advantage of those benefits.

That’s not retail, that’s foodservice. There are several different markets for jobs and it seems like no one wants to talk about retail.

Retail and food service positions are typically filled by the same kind of people.

 

[profcutter]

Tread carefully, Apple management. The NLRB is (hopefully) watching. Don’t want to get slapped like starbucks just did. Could it be that the folks actually working these jobs are finally seeing the advantages of collective bargaining?

 

[macsimcon]

So if the high school kid working at Starbucks was making $45 per hour, with 4 weeks vacation fully paid health care, 401K and a pension, how much do you think your latte would cost?

I don't have to guess, we already know: in Denmark, McDonald's workers make $22 an hour and get SIX weeks vacation per year...and a Big Mac is $0.27 more expensive than in the United States (https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mcdonalds-workers-denmark/). I think most people would be fine paying a few cents more so the employees can have a livable wage.

Morons believe this corporate BS that unions are bad without bothering to do any research...and HALF the country is comprised of such morons. We should let the impoverished asinine loser red states secede; we blue states would be far better off. And my taxes wouldn't go toward supporting idiotic taker-states full of sociopathic ignorami.

 

[Santiago]

Why does the US have such an aversion to unions?

Because the US is generally-speaking a hyper-capitalist right-wing police state built on exploitation and oppression.