Apple employees at two retail locations are reportedly planning to unionize. They’re apparently close to filing paperwork with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to form a union for Apple retail workers. The move comes amid a larger retaliation against corporations posting record profits and raises for executives, while wages for everyone else have been completely stagnant for decades. Apple’s profits are setting records for the company. Meanwhile, the employees on the front line—during a pandemic, no less—are seeing very little of that.
Apple employees have reported lousy conditions, including racism, sexism, and sexual harassment and abuse. All while being forced to work in a position that dramatically raises their exposure to the public during a pandemic. Tim Cook’s compensation package exploded to $99 million this year. Meanwhile, retail employees saw modest wage increases, if they were lucky. With the redistribution of the nation’s wealth heading towards the richest Americans over the past few years through stagnant wages and tax breaks for the rich, the inflation bubble has finally popped, and the middle class, who haven’t seen wages keep up with inflation, are the only ones feeling the pressure. Now Apple’s actual workers want a larger piece of Apple’s pie.
Better Conditions, Better Pay
Apple closed a few stores during the pandemic. Many stayed open. The threat of debilitating illness and pay that didn’t keep up with inflation left many employees feeling unappreciated. Workers were told they were “essential,” but paid like they’re replaceable. Now Apple’s re-opening stores and even dropping mask mandates, further endangering employees.
Influenced by the success of Starbucks and other unions, Apple employees are asking for better pay and better conditions. #AppleToo helped highlight issues at Apple retail stores and showed employees their issues weren’t unique. Employees reported stories of racism, sexism, and even sexual harassment and abuse. The troubling stories resonated with many in retail, driving a push for unionization. Collectively, workers have more power to demand better treatment, safer conditions, and more pay.
Apple Bumped Pay
Unions are expensive for corporations. It’s why they’re willing to spend millions busting them. If a company has a union, the ability to abuse their workers for profit dissolves. One of the ways companies fight unions? Pay bumps. These are usually modest, and don’t go to all employees. However, the purpose isn’t to make everyone happy, just make enough employees happy. If they can please a few employees, it can reduce the chance of them getting enough signatures to form a union.
Employees reported modest bumps of 2% to 10%. Most employees who saw a pay increase report it didn’t keep up with inflation for the past year, let alone the past few years of steady inflation increases. Not even all employees got a pay bump. It was based on current role and years in that role, cutting out newer employees or some with less experience with Apple.
Top Companies Should Pay Top Dollar
Apple headquarters. Photo: Arne Müseler/arne-mueseler.com/CC-by-SA-3.0
The fact is, pay has to go up. For too long pay for the lower and middle classes has stagnated while top earners and those sitting on generational wealth reaped the rewards of cheap labor. Apple’s revenue last year was $378 billion. That’s a massive increase over the already whopping $240 billion they brought in five years ago. From that, Apple’s reporting a net income of $94.7 billion. Apple’s employees, the people driving that success, want a piece of that success. Yet retail employees say that not only have their wages stagnated, they’re now far behind inflation.
Tim Cook got a massive raise last year, looking at a new $99 million compensation package. Yet employees reported either receiving no wage increase or a mediocre one that doesn’t keep up with inflation. Tax breaks and low, stagnating wages has pushed wealth to the top, perhaps more so in the past four or five years than before. Yet these companies are reporting record profits, far exceeding inflation. The company’s making more money, they’re just keeping more of it at the top.
It’s a problem across industries. However, Apple, the wealthiest company in the world, has no excuse for not paying the people driving that success.
Employees Fear Retaliation
While retaliation is illegal, companies don’t fear the repercussions. Punishing those for trying to unionize doesn’t cost as much as treating workers fairly. Labor laws, against monopolies like Apple, are largely toothless. Currently, Apple’s paying 5 million euros per week in the Netherlands over the refusal to add a fair third party payment system to some types of apps. The company has a near infinite supply of money for fighting regulations, but not the same for improving employees’ lives. The latter is an ongoing cost they’d never be rid of.
As a result, labor organizers are looking for 80% of employees pledging their interest in a union before proceeding with a vote. Some employees say managers have already begun forcing anti-union discussions on them. Apple’s ready to fight back, but employees are increasingly seeing the benefits of improved pay and conditions that unions provide.
Last year, Apple retail employees walked out on Christmas Eve. This is just the beginning for retail employees. The pandemic made workers more scarce. The inability to work while sick and the surprisingly high prevalence of ongoing disabilities from “long COVID” have kept the labor market sparse. As a result, workers are realizing the power they have over their employers, especially with collective action. Apple’s union efforts certainly aren’t the start, but due to the size and influence of Apple as a company, it could help kick start something larger.
Sources:
- Reed Albergotti, The Washington Post
- I. Bonifacic, Engadget
- Darryl Boxberger, AppleInsider
- Mark Gurman, Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance
- Ed Hardy, Cult of Mac
- Huileng Tan, Juliana Kaplan, and Sindhu Sundar, Business Insider
- Leigh Thomas, Reuters