AppleTogether, a solidarity group that grew out of the #AppleToo campaign, has taken issue with Bloomberg’s characterization of what happened at the Cumberland Mall store in Atlanta.
The news organization variously said that Apple Store staff in Atlanta had “withdrawn” or “canceled” its bid to unionize …
The formation of AppleTogether
Things began in August of last year when then Apple engineer Cher Scarlett carried out a salary survey that indicated that men were paid more than women for the same roles. Instead of acting on the results of the survey, Apple execs banned employees from carrying out any further such surveys.
#AppleToo rebranded as AppleTogether, jointly run by Scarlett and then Apple Maps program manager Janneke Parrish – as well as others who have chosen to remain anonymous. It invited employees of the Cupertino company to share their stories and concerns – soon amassing hundreds of reports.
Unionization efforts
More recently, AppleTogether has been assisting in unionization efforts by retail store employees.
We first learned of retail staff plans to unionize back in February, when groups at two stores were reportedly preparing paperwork to file with the National Labor Relations Board, with about six more locations at earlier stages of planning.
We saw a formal start to the process at Apple’s flagship Grand Central Terminal store in New York, with a number of goals for a better deal for staff. This was followed by similar moves in Atlanta and Maryland.
Apple responded with a carrot-and-stick approach. The stick was an aggressive claim that unionization could slow, rather than accelerate, change – so aggressive that two complaints of illegal union-busting have been filed. The carrot was the announcement of pay raises and other improvements in working conditions for retail staff.
The Atlanta store controversy
Apple Store employees in Atlanta last week announced that they were withdrawing the unionization vote following Apple’s response. Some news outlets positioned this as a cancellation of plans, but AppleTogether tweeted that this isn’t the case.
The group followed this with a tweet inviting staff at other stores to unionize.
Psst, Cumberland workers didn’t “cancel” their vote to unionize, they postponed it. And it wasn’t out-of-the-blue; it was due to intense union-busting from Apple. Details matter. #AppleTogether #UnionBustingIsDisgusting
Whether you support or oppose the unionization efforts, one thing is for sure: This isn’t going to go away. The movement and the controversy surrounding it are only going to grow – and the more publicity it gets, the more people hear about worker dissatisfaction.
Are you an Apple worker who wants to organize? Do you want to communicate and collaborate with workers from all parts of Apple? Join us here: https://discord.gg/YK3VefQPT5 (http://appletogether.org/connect leads here too).
There are clear parallels here with Apple’s continuing fight against antitrust issues.
Apple is to be applauded for the changes and pay raises it has announced, but accompanying this with union-busting tactics isn’t a good look. We can only repeat our call for Apple to work cooperatively with its employees, rather than engage in a fight. But this is the same advice we’ve repeatedly voiced over antitrust issues, to no avail.
