“Apple has begun planning how to respond if its retail employees unionize,” Josh Lowensohn reports for CNET.
“In an internal document obtained by CNET, the company posted information about a training course on the topic, which takes place [today] and is required to be taken by all new store managers,” Lowensohn reports. “The move comes about six months after an employee-driven effort unionize Apple’s retail workers. That store-by-store effort, called the Apple Retail Workers Union, cited Apple for providing poor compensation to its part time employees, as well as calling attention to alleged deficiencies in Apple’s ‘break schedules, training opportunities,’ and ‘the selection and hiring process for internal candidates for open positions.'”
Lowensohn reports, “A retail union holds the potential to drive up Apple’s operating costs if employees are able to successfully negotiate increases to pay and benefits. Having a union in the first place grants them the ability to set up those negotiations but does not guarantee that Apple would agree to any changes… Apple has its own rights on the matter. The company can do campaigning of its own, letting employees know that it’s against a union.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
Workers should be allowed to engage in Union activities.
Companies should be allowed – without criticism – to move their labor costs to other regions/countries when unions threaten their competitive advantage to international companies with no labor cost issues. Local labor is too expensive due to unions.
Without criticism? Would we amend the Constitution to promote this objective, or would all Americans just take a pledge not to criticize companies for moving operations to low-wage locations.
Would workers that unionize still be subject to criticism, or would we amend the Constitution not to criticize union members at the same time we protect companies?
Just for fun, let’s broaden the law to prevent ANY criticism at all, except Android phones!
+1. You hit the hypocrisy on the head.
Queen Smell = Commie
OMG!!1! That’s so funny! I like being immature 2
And to support your anti-union frothing, I think you should IMMEDIATELY give up all your rights that were actually won by unions — which includes most of the benefits workers enjoy that distinguish you from a Victorian-era “serf”.
Without unions and Marx/Engels/Lenin in USA would be still no concept of workers’ rights. You would work 14-16 hours a day for less than minimal wage, with no medical expenses covered and two vacation days per month. And, certainly, ecology and safety of workspace as concepts would not exist since it never matters while the workers are so cheap and helpless.
However, this is not to say that marginal ideas like communism or an abuse of the power by unions that tampers with effectiveness of the economy are good thing.
Everything needs a balance. Maybe these Apple’s unions will be moderate and everything will be fine; lets see.
Perfect score
It is impossible to move retail to off-shore employees.
And to those of you so eager to ship American jobs overseas to low cost nations, it’s obvious you’ve never had your job shipped away. I have had several jobs exported, including as a software engineer. So it’s not just factory jobs going away.
Besides retail, the only jobs that can’t be exported are lawn mowing and snow plowing.
and companies should have the right to fire those leach workers if they try..
1
Like every other social organization model… Religion. Democracy, socialism, unions etc… The ideas and concept have merit… Then you add people and it gets all f$&ked up…
If we could only eliminate the people…. Everything would run perfectly… Oh yeah… But then we wouldn’t need the social structure model… Catch 22?
Unions would kill the Apple Stores, just like they’ve damaged every other industry they’ve entered. Apple should have only one policy if a store attempts to unionize: shut it down.
While they served a needed role in improving the workplace conditions of our great great grandfathers, Unions are nothing more than a legal mafia enterprise and political tool for liberals.
Unions are slowly chipping away at capitalism, they’ve already destroyed out education system, and as their membership drops, they’ll become more desperate to maintain membership and relevancy.
I don’t know.
UPS does pretty good, and they compete against open-shop Fed-Ex, open border DHL, and open-fire Postal Union….
You said this as an absolute, which means a single counter-example shoots you down. Check out the hotelworkers’ union in NYC. The hotels are raking in profits, and the employees have a strong union with full health benefits and very good pay.
So, nice talking points, but empty words, apparently.
Also, let’s address the assumption you seem to make: Corporations treat people so much more fairly than they did back when unions “served a needed role.” Do you really believe that, without unions, employees will not see more and more protections removed? That’s amazingly naive.
+1
I like your thinking, gentleman.
This is exactly what made the Third Reich great! I need more followers like you!
Just as long as they post wether they are unionized or not. Then the customers can decide which ‘experience’ they like best!
Unions SUCK. Close every store that goes union!!!!!
Companies should be allowed to ban unions. Apple doesn’t need shirkers, they need workers.
Let the debate begin!! I bet apple retail employees ,don’t even get there full lunch breaks!! Think about it, when have any of us been in a apple store that wasn’t completely swamped with customers?
Unions aren’t the problem, they are still needed!!
As a former Apple retail worker, I was chewed out a few times for NOT taking my full lunch break, or regularly scheduled breaks. Apple store managers are very sensitive to this and were good about making sure everyone got the time they needed.
Um……. Union for part time work. Really, really??
They aren’t hiring 12 years old, forcing unsafe or hazardous working conditions, unless you are an attorney who is looking for a lawsuit to deep pockets.
Go ahead and increase overhead cost and drive up prices for the consumers.
Yup I agree there! I personally think the Unions have served their purpose. It seems, to me, theses days it’s more political than anything else.
Bad workers can not be fired so easy so lazyness rules the workforce. I can’t begin to tell you what the union workers did to my mom cause her product output was higher than the union workers.
So in this reguard the unoins are very very bad and become a nasty political force.
Just my 2¢
Even if they’re not allowed to unionize, Apple retail employees should be given equal protections under state and federal current labor laws —you don’t want to see Apple Stores turn into Wal-Marts in terms of employee conditions. You’ll only get ticked-off, grumpy, depressed Geniuses living paycheck to paycheck.
The Obama RDF in full flow. Socialism is like malarial fever – it’s spread by mosquito vectors known as community organizers. And the antidote to that is to spray it with a RidDem aerosol.
Apple Store employees make much better than minimum wage, it’s not the traditional retail job. I work at an Apple Store because I was a fan not because I was looking for training opportunities etc., I just wanted an opportunity to share my passion with other like minded people. When I started working part-time they asked me how much did I want to make an hour? I said $16 an hour and then said o.k., that is not typical in a mall setting
Unions r the downfall of capitalism! While the union thugs hold companies hostage on wages and benefits and protect the laziest, most incompetent workers from consequences of their actions and inactions, the consumer loses! Thank the democrat socialists for ramming unions and their political agendas down our throats! Unions take your dues and do what they want! It’s institutionalized socialism that strains relationships and trust between employees and the ungrateful workforce!
@Jim
I fully agree. Here come’s the old boogey man scare scenario set about by union representatives. Next we’ll be hearing that Steve Jobs was a sweat shop master. I want $30/hour as a door greeter.
Tou can take the boy out of Alabama (Cook) but you can’t take Alabama out of the boy.
As an Apple user since 1979, customer since 1980 & shareholder since 2001:
Let them unionize.
Think Different
You know, if these people were looking unionize all retail employees, I would give them credit. I worked in one of the stores, it’s not worse working conditions than many retail stores. You’re busy, you work. Tell them to get a job at the Microsoft store if they’re working too hard.
The bigger issue seems to be that managers must learn to manage properly. Apple is taking a proactive approach to negate the need for workers to protect themselves. The Apple store where the employees tried to form a union was likely managed by a person who should never have been a manager. That manager also did not hire people who like to work and serve customers.
Apple should close the doors on any store that unionizes, unless they want to follow the lead of all those wonderful top-notch quality American unionized companies … like GM and Chrysler. The only thing a union will do is slowly choke every bit of quality and service out of Apple products and the store, while creating a negative work environment for all. I have worked in a few union jobs over my lifetime and I know this: Those who work hard are usually well rewarded by management and don’t need unions. Those who do need unions are slackers that simply amass into gangs to hold the company hostage. These people will leech until they kill the company and their own jobs.
Yeah, and the shareholders should sue the board that does so for fiduciary malfeasance. A redneck knee jerk reaction to the formation of a union is not what is called for.
As to quality, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, Toyota, Honda, and others all have union workforces in their home countries. In Germany, the union is represented on the Board of Directors and it does not seemed to have hurt them.
Generally the best way to avoid unions is to treat employees well and pay them well. The Issacson book has confirmed that Steve Jobs was a raging asshole to damn near the bitter end and such is not a model to be emulated.
As to slackers:
A good union shop steward will take care of the slackers for you.
As for me:
I will gladly pay more for products made by union workers paid a decent wage and treated well.
” In Germany, the union is represented on the Board of Directors and it does not seemed to have hurt them.”
Go to Germany to work then. Unions are devastating to a company, it costs at least 25% more to make anything in a union shop.
CFO’s have a Union called the Board, that is frequently filled by handpicked cronies.
When the company is doing well, the Board are very generous to the CFO. When the company is doing badly, there’s the Golden Parachute, like the 20 million severance Carly Fiorina received from HP.
Apple should close any store that unionizes and terminate all employees. Unions are nothing but leaches that suck the lifeblood out of any healthy company. Just listen to Jobs talk about the teachers unions–he got it!
How many unions have you been in/managed or are you just spouting Koch Brothers talking points?
Depends on the business/product. Unions have a place. Lets say your job is to screw a rivet on a product that needs thousands of parts to complete. Maybe you also get to polish a knob after you drill that screw. Oh and maybe its more than one screw, it could be 5 to 10. Do yo think you deserve 25 to 30 bucks an hour for that job? Hmmm?
I’m not against the idea of unions but of course many big ones have lost their way.
I believe Honda and Toyota factories in the US operate without unionized employees, but they are paid and treated well, a few exception stories aside. Apple should nip this in the bud fast. Find out what the main complaints are; e.g. if it’s insufficient breaks or working hours are too long, hire more staff. Apple stores make enough money by themselves that this should not be an issue, period.
What I really don’t get is how some Apple retail workers can be demanding unionization, while restaurant wait staff remain ununionized. One of our servers at a 24-hour diner told us, at 4am, that she’d been on the job close to 24 hours (reported to work at 6am the previous day, meaning she’d been UP probably an hour before that to get ready and get to work). THAT is exploitive and/or poor management.
That’s because restaurant jobs are a dime a dozen. I’ve been in the industry for 25 years and have worked at some real crappy units. Due to my experience, I am able to easily find another job if my current one proves to be unsatisfactory. I enjoy going into a unit with potential, but with issues, and helping to make it a tight, efficient machine. It’s all on WHO you hire and how you manage them, and I never settle for lazy, unmotivated B and C players. As long as the job is getting done and the staff has pride and passion in customer service and food production, everyone is happy and goes home in a limousine (ok… not really).
But yeah… there are lots of restaurants out there operating with mediocre mentalities. I can think of a certain “roadhouse” chain that draws in customers by constantly giving away food (via Buy One, Get One coupons), all the while hiring warm bodies, crying about how their staff needs to do more to bring sales up, and being reactive to situations rather than proactive. I lasted three days there…
Without unions, there would be no paid annual leave, no sick leave, no long service leave, no maternity leave, no occupational health and safety protections, no unfair dismissal laws, no protections in the workplace against discrimination, harrassment or bullying, no whistleblower protections, no laws against child labour…. The list of rights, protections and entitlements that the average worker enjoys goes on and on.
Unions aren’t perfect but I’d much rather a world with them than without them.
Those are historical unions, and though we owe them a lot, it’s a completely different thing to say we STILL need them for THOSE reasons.
It would be a stretch to say without unions now, that we’d lose all those benefits, because those things are now enshrined in law (for the most part).
The problem with many modern unions is the same as with organizations like Greenpeace and MADD–they were very successful at their original mandates, but once the goals were achieved they had to justify their continued existence (and paycheques from government grants and donations), so they moved into semi-related fields instead of disbanding like they should have.
@Stuart
I’m self-employed and none of those apply to me. I stand or fall on my own. What makes people think they’re so special?
Unions are great for people who like to nap on the job.
Having worked on both sides of this fence, it’s been my experience that if the company treats employees well, and addresses their grievances successfully, no third party is needed to mediate the relationship. If not, then unions are indicated.
and apple has the right to fire every employee who joins said union.
sam walton had it right, back in the 70’s. he heard that the employees of one of his stores were talking about unionizing. he walked into the store and told them he would shut the store down if they did.
unemployment is high enough that apple could replace every single retail store employee pretty easily it need be.
with modern day employment laws, unions have outlived their purpose. today, they exist purely as a political fund-raiser for the left.
Here’s a little known fact… Apple retail employees make about 35-45% MORE than any other electronics retailer… Maybe they should count their blessings what they have… I know many retail employees… And they are FULLY aware of how good they have it…
It’s the “kids these days” thing… Always want more for giving less…
mtg………
and workers should guillotine all the 1% who don’t use their heads and destroy lives for their ever growing greed. same for their zombie minions that mindlessly follow their drivel.