A National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Tuesday that Apple used illegal means to convince employees at one of its retail stores in New York not to form a union.
The judge issued several instructions to Apple that might assist in future unionizing efforts at the company’s 270-plus U.S. retail locations.
The National Labor Relations Board determined that Apple’s tactics in pressuring employees at an Atlanta Apple store to not unionize broke the law.
The NLRB regional director reportedly gave Apple the option to settle or she will start the process of compelling the company to do so.
Employees at an Apple store in Maryland have made it the first of any of the Mac-maker’s retail locations to vote in favor of joining a union. Several other such stores are preparing to hold their own votes. Meanwhile, Apple is trying to discourage any efforts by its employees to unionize.
It’s not clear how all this will affect users of Apple devices.
Apple U.S. retail store employees now get a minimum of 12 hours between shifts, up from 10 hours. And they won’t have to work more than five days in a row. These are just two of the changes Apple is reportedly making to how it schedules workers at its 270+ retail locations.
It’s likely these are intended to reduce employee interest in joining unions.
Employees of an Apple store in Atlanta won’t be voting to form a union after all. They withdrew their request with the National Labor Relations Board, and said Apple had carried out “a systematic, sophisticated campaign to intimidate them.”
It remains unknown how this will affect employees trying to unionize at an Apple retail store in New York
Apple employees can to look forward to raises. The company sent an email to its workers informing them it’ll spend more on employee compensation this year. And starting pay for retail workers is going up 10%.
This is happening as Apple faces increasing competition for employees in a tight labor market, and its retail workers are starting to unionize.
Workers attempting to form unions at multiple Apple retail stores allege the iPhone-maker is breaking federal labor laws in its attempts to block these efforts.
If the allegations bear out, it’s more than a bit hypocritical – Apple requires its component suppliers to allow their employees to join unions.
Apple is reportedly working with Littler Mendelson, a law firm with a history of helping companies prevent their employees from unionizing. The move comes in the wake of workers at several Apple stores moving to form unions.
If true, then Apple is going to do what it can to prevent the thousands of employees at its 250+ retail locations in the United States from organizing for collective bargaining.
Dozens of workers at an Apple store in Atlanta reportedly plan to file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board asking to become a union. Employees at an Apple retail store in New York are moving in that direction, too.
These could be the first U.S. Apple store employees to unionize. Both groups are asking for higher wages.
Workers at some Apple Stores are reportedly planning to unionize. Employees are two stores are close to filing paperwork with the National Labor Relations Board and more are moving in that direction.
They say their goal is a larger share of Apple’s huge profits.
