If you're quoting my response, who do you think the victim is exactly? I was giving an example of how a friend of mine got the short end of the stick from a chain restaurant he's working at ... from solid shifts of 8 hours a day to now scattered shifts that make him a part-time employee ... do you think big/mega corporations will look at their expenses (one of them being employee cost) differently?
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Apple Store Employees in New Jersey File to Unionize
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Entry level IS $20 / hour, by definition, since that's now minimum wage.
So you think $15 should be some sort of predefined threshold, forever and ever?
They don't want to unionize, they have a union thug telling them how awesome it will be when they are paying union dues to fund the golf courses of the bosses and their high salary (talk about fair pay)
Not wrong but you need to provide value if you want the wages.
Happy, well-paid workers = better served customers
My significant other is an educator ... she cannot be employed as a "non-union educator" in the school district she works at, as the union won't allow for that. She has to pay dues and is constantly reminded who the union prefers when it comes to elections/voting ... I still have yet to find value in unions, maybe someone can enlighten me.
Self-contradicting argument. Why would a union "thug" even bother to try make a persuasive argument? He'd just need to break some knee caps to get the ballot to go his way. You're not making much sense.
And sorry, but "golf courses"? The idea that union bosses are somehow living high on the hog is just wrong. I know a lot of ppl who work as union organizers. They are not rich people.
I didn't know you had to be rich to play golf at golf courses ... does that mean I made it?
To some extent that is true, but that ship has sailed ... when is the last time you have gone shopping at a retail store bougie or not? ... but then again I live in LA, maybe it's time for a change 😂
It’s not just about money though but also working conditions. Retail employees get treated horribly by the general public.
That I have witnessed myself on multiple occasions ... but no wages or unions are going to change the fact that people are plain rude to one another ...
If they didn’t provide value, Apple wouldn’t hire them. Workers provide value by working.
Look across the pond. Here in the UK our government would love to rip up all the hard-fought labour laws on behalf of their billionaire paymasters.
Unions give the workers collective power against an overreach of authority. It was only thanks to trade unions contributing to the Labour Party that we enjoy state healthcare, maximum working hours and guaranteed paid holidays. We have protections in place against unfair dismissal (workers cannot be sacked for going on strike) and unions largely protect workers who suffer from workplace litigation.
I had a former colleague (we were both teachers) who was accused of something by a student who took a comment the wrong way. The management wanted shot of him to sweep it under the rug but the union fought his corner and he was reinstated having actually done nothing wrong.
Sadly, being in a union won't bring them newfound joy and happiness. It's just the weaponization of employment. License to be lazy without the fear of consequences.
Apple: "This is the most competitive pay that has ever come to employees. We call it Apple Store."
But "good wages" is never good enough. That's part of the problem. If Apple gave everyone a $10/hr raise tomorrow, people would be happy, spend more, and then need more, so then they'll demand more. And on it goes...
And you don’t think that people being unable to afford to live in the places where they work flipping burgers might also kill the industry? This idea that there’s a preordained minimum wage people deserve, completely divorced from the cost of living, is such a delusional, uninformed take.
I am going to loosely say "apples & oranges" ... I am actually from across the pond German/Polish living in LA ... have some family members and friends at both countries in education, hospitality, and other industries. Their-your union(s) are quite a bit different ...
Yes, I get the situations where the union (here or across the pond) might be of use/benefit ... but I haven't heard of that yet, just speaking from experience.
That is why unions renegotiate contracts at intervals, both sides get a new chance to negotiate, because circumstances change, price of living goes up, etc. Without a union it’s far more difficult to any kind of raise or bonus, and when you do it’s at the arbitrary whims of your boss or HR. I’ve worked in big tech, without a union you have very few opportunities to make more than what you got when you started.
But the workers aren’t demanding higher wages to buy more crap. They just want to keep up with inflation and not live in poverty.
There is some argument that a company relying on thin margins pushing up wages will push up prices but in this specific case we are talking about a company that makes a shedload of cash every second.
But I suppose we do have to think of the poor shareholders
If you're a group of employees not getting performance bonuses and/or management can layoff or reprimand employees at will, definitely unionize. If employee issues are not being properly addressed by management, definitely unionize.
I agree and would like to add even if they were unionizing just to “buy more stuff”, that’s entirely within their rights and working people don’t have to justify themselves to anyone else. This whole idea that the working class needs to forgo any pleasure or nice things because they need to be more “fiscally responsible” is just propaganda from people who have more money than they could ever spend.But the workers aren’t demanding higher wages to buy more crap. They just want to keep up with inflation and not live in poverty.
There is some argument that a company relying on thin margins pushing up wages will push up prices but in this specific case we are talking about a company that makes a shedload of cash every second.
But I suppose we do have to think of the poor shareholders
A lot of that requires to be full time staff. Most are not full time.
This is just sad. Apple could give all of their retail employees industry leading pay and benefits for what amounts a rounding error on their bottom line and then those “pesky unions” wouldn’t be a problem.
Wow don't multi-nationals hate Unions? Unions are the only way the average worker can unite and get decent pay and benefits. Heaven forbid some of Apples profits in the billions was more evenly distributed.