Apple Retail Store workers in France launched a nationwide strike over pay and working conditions on Friday in a protest designed to coincide with the launch of the iPhone 15.
Manuel Ausloos and Louise Dalmasso for Reuters:
About 30 staff were picketing outside the company’s store in Opera in central Paris, one of three in the French capital, a few metres away from a line of about 40 customers waiting in the rain to enter the shop.
“We are still the people who make Apple’s wealth, and therefore I think that we deserve a little more honorable treatment than what we are given today,” said Anais Durel, a 36-year old who has worked for Apple for 10 years.
“Inflation is still quite nasty. There are a lot of employees who are experiencing difficulties,” said Tarek, a CGT union leader who declined to give his last name.
“The goal is not at all to block sales of the iPhone, the goal is really to bring awareness to this situation,” he added.
MacDailyNews Take: The strike is expected to affect the majority of the 20 Apple Stores in France.
The unions are demanding a 7% pay rise while Apple is proposing 4.5% on average. Workers at Apple Retail Stores are already among the most highly compensated retail workers in France, according to Glassdoor.
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Absolutely typical of the Frogs. They do it all the time. Air traffic controllers have been on strike every summer for the last 10 years. Maximise the chaos at key times.