Apple Store Employees in St. Louis Reject Unionization Efforts

[MacRumors]

Apple Store employees at the St. Louis Galleria location this week decided not to unionize, rejecting unionization in a filing with the National Labor Relations Board, reports Bloomberg.

Employees said that they did not believe the union would provide "anything complementary to Apple's culture and existing benefits," which suggests that Apple's efforts to improve benefits to stymie unionization have been successful. Apple in February increased paid sick days and vacation days, and in June, improved working conditions by increasing time limits between shifts, limiting late night shifts, and not scheduling employees to work for more than five days in a row.

Workers at the store said they do not want to be represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the labor group that was aiming to organize the store. 66 of 90 employees said they "do not want to join the union and do not support the union in any manner."

IAM in November dropped plans for a vote for unionization, blaming "anti-union practices and increased hostility towards workers" at the time. Employees claim that IAM dropped unionization efforts after learning about the petition. "The majority of employees at this Apple Store do not wish to work with the IAM," said the employees. They also said that they "do not believe that a union is required at this time."

Workers said that union opposition was not influenced by management, even though Apple has been accused of engaging in anti-union behavior. Apple in October refused to provide new benefits to a unionized store in Maryland, and employees there were told that they would need to negotiate benefits with Apple through the union.

Apple's head of retail Deirdre O'Brien has warned employees that unionization would make it harder for Apple to introduce changes. "We have a relationship that is based on an open and collaborative and direct engagement," she said at the time. "Which I feel could fundamentally change if a store is represented by a union under a collective bargaining agreement."

As of now, two U.S. Apple Stores have opted to unionize, and employees at several other Apple retail locations are considering unionization.

Article Link: Apple Store Employees in St. Louis Reject Unionization Efforts

 

[no_idea]

Unions just need to die…end of discussion

 

[robd003]

Good to see that reason prevailed in this case! Unions lost their purpose a long time ago and now only exist to grift dues from employees.

 

[zachz]

Glad to see this.

Anecdotally, I’ve only had terrible experiences with the unions I’ve worked under and have made less doing the same/similar job. As the only non-unionized employee in my immediate and most of my extended family, I’m now treated better than my union jobs and based on my family’s experiences it seems like they’re not treated well.

Although I’m in Canada so at least we have many more privileges than many American workers, especially in the retail/service industry

 

[WiiDSmoker]

If Apple cares about their employees, it shouldn’t have taken unionization for them to offer more pay and sick leave.

Good employers never let negativity arise by being ahead and providing well for their employees.

 

[Marbles1]

European here. Attitudes toward unions is definitely one of the major divides between the USA and Europe. We have a lot of sympathy for unions here, they stand up for the little guy in commoditised jobs.

 

[BenGoren]

It’s sad how completely we’ve forgotten the lessons of the past.

Do you at least like the memory of the idea of a 40-hour work week?

Or, how much do you appreciate the fact that it’s illegal for your workplace to have doors locked such that those inside cannot leave?

Without unions, we wouldn’t even have that much.

“Divide and conquer.” “United we stand; divided we fall.”

A trivial analysis will show that “right-to-work” states get paid less, work longer hours, have less job stability …

… and all y’all think this is a good thing?

b&

 

[zantafio]

Unions just need to die…end of discussion

you know why in Europe they get 5 weeks or more paid vacations and zilch here? UNIONS

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

Almost like actually engaging with employers and having reasonable, closed discourse is the solution to most of these problems. You know, instead of going whining to the press, or going on / threatening strikes.

Unions I’ve been offered to join end up wanting a membership fee. I decided to look into what my sector (education) union leaders get paid / compensated and most of them are in six-figures. And they claim to represent the ordinary worker. My ass. Unions are just another money making enterprise.

 

[zakarhino]

Good to see that reason prevailed in this case! Unions lost their purpose a long time ago and now only exist to grift dues from employees.

Many unions are like this, yes, which is why some of the political establishment have no issues with them (look at the auto worker's union in the US). However, some of those unions should be acknowledged as legitimate representatives of the working people in them (Chris Smalls' Amazon Union and UK Rail Union come to mind).

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

Glad to see this.

Anecdotally, I’ve only had terrible experiences with the unions I’ve worked under and have made less doing the same/similar job. As the only non-unionized employee in my immediate and most of my extended family, I’m now treated better than my union jobs and based on my family’s experiences it seems like they’re not treated well.

Although I’m in Canada so at least we have many more privileges than many American workers, especially in the retail/service industry

Yup, my dad (police officer, UK) went to his union for legal support (a service they claimed to offer), however they decided it “wasn’t in their interest” and declined to provide the support to him.

Unions are a waste of time and money.

 

[zakarhino]

I'm going to assume one of the issues here was latching onto the IAM, many longstanding unions in the US are corrupt, bought out, or otherwise inept.

 

[BenGoren]

If Apple cares about their employees, it shouldn’t have taken unionization for them to offer more pay and sick leave.

Good employers never let negativity arise by being ahead and providing well for their employees.

That’s the theory, certainly.

The problem is that it’s one of those “frictionless spherical cows in a vacuum” theories that doesn’t have much bearing on reality.

Shareholder-owned companies in general care much more about quarterly profits than maximizing long-term earnings, and “happy employees” is just one component of the latter. An essential one, to be certain!

One should always be very careful what one measures, as, almost inevitably, that which is measured winds up being optimized.

When was the last time you heard of corporate America even measuring employee wellbeing? And, if you have, where was that measure in relation to quarterly profits in the shareholder report?

b&

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

Many unions are like this, yes, which is why some of the political establishment have no issues with them (look at the auto worker's union in the US). However, some of those unions should be acknowledged as legitimate representatives of the working people in them (Chris Smalls' Amazon Union and UK Rail Union come to mind).

RMT union boss gets paid £84k a year. Does he **** represent the union members.

 

[GMShadow]

Again, the fact that an aerospace and machinist union wants to represent Apple Store retail employees says it all: this is a dying union desperate to boost falling membership numbers in any way possible.

What does a machinist have in common with a person who sells you an iPhone?

 

[zakarhino]

RMT union boss gets paid £84k a year. Does he **** represent the union members.

Yes, I believe so

 

[Macusercom]

European here. Attitudes toward unions is definitely one of the major divides between the USA and Europe. We have a lot of sympathy for unions here, they stand up for the little guy in commoditised jobs.

True. I think the issues also is that if some people are in a union and others are not, companies will give those non-unionized people benefits which makes the union look bad. To truly work, everyone should be in that union.

In Austria we do not only have a union for most jobs, we have a collective work agreement which benefit me personally as I get inflation adjusted salary increases every year. Also we have different "Kammern" which work independently to provide a communication between certain employment areas and the government.

Europeans mostly think of a system that benefits most if not all equally, with the individual benefits being secondary. Imho in the US it is the other way around. This is not a critique by any means. It just is a different philosophy that one cannot "enforce" on the other.

 

[Macusercom]

you know why in Europe they get 5 weeks or more paid vacations and zilch here? UNIONS

Not to forget paid sick days (a month when starting a new job up to multiple months at 100% salary), maternity protection, special vaccation days for marriage, death or moving to a new appartment, obligatory breaks and idle periods after a certain number of working days/hours and a lot more

 

[Ram65]

no union they bugging hope it works out for them

 

[madrigal77]

It’s sad how completely we’ve forgotten the lessons of the past.

Do you at least like the memory of the idea of a 40-hour work week?

Or, how much do you appreciate the fact that it’s illegal for your workplace to have doors locked such that those inside cannot leave?

Without unions, we wouldn’t even have that much.

“Divide and conquer.” “United we stand; divided we fall.”

A trivial analysis will show that “right-to-work” states get paid less, work longer hours, have less job stability …

… and all y’all think this is a good thing?

b&

Unions were very useful when there were no laws to protect workers. They worked hard and got worker protection laws passed. Everyone should be thankful for that. They've outgrown their usefulness many years ago now though. We have those worker protection laws.

Now they're just a ponzi scheme making the union bosses rich on union dues and membership fees. They should be abolished.

 

[ronntaylor]

Again, the fact that an aerospace and machinist union wants to represent Apple Store retail employees says it all: this is a dying union desperate to boost falling membership numbers in any way possible.

What does a machinist have in common with a person who sells you an iPhone?

Har!! From their website:

With nearly 700,000 active and retired members, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is one of the largest and most diverse labor unions in North America.

The unionization effort scared Apple into giving workers better pay and benefits. The workers just have to make sure that they're not screwed once the scrutiny leaves.

 

[zachz]

Yup, my dad (police officer, UK) went to his union for legal support (a service they claimed to offer), however they decided it “wasn’t in their interest” and declined to provide the support to him.

Unions are a waste of time and money.

100% agree, I had a similar experience.

Started a provincial government job and on my first day, manager told me that he “has the power to make sure no one ever works for the government again” — then said welcome aboard.

When I started and during the interview, I said I had a week long vacation planned in about 2 months and they said no problem.

Told the same manager and he gave me a form to fill out and an email to send it to, and I did just that. Went on my vacation and got about 2-3 voicemails per day (didn’t get them until I was back) asking where I was. When I contacted the manager, he said I stopped showing up, that he didn’t receive my email, and that the email I told him it was sent to was the wrong one. I told him no worries, I quit effective immediately and he said I had already been fired.

When I contacted HR, they told me they can’t help because I’m not an employee.

This is from a provincial government agency that deals with over $1 billion a year. Disgusting.

 

[antiprotest]

Unions were very useful when there were no laws to protect workers. They worked hard and got worker protection laws passed. Everyone should be thankful for that. They've outgrown their usefulness many years ago now though. We have those worker protection laws.

Now they're just a ponzi scheme making the union bosses rich on union dues and membership fees. They should be abolished.

I have known several stores around my city where the owners decided to hire freelance/independent contractors for construction and remodeling, etc. and the local union descended upon them and practically terrorized the owners, the contractors, the pedestrians, and the customers, as if the independent contractors did not have a right to work for their livelihood unless they belonged to a union. Their tactics included physically violent gestures and actions, and harassing phones calls, not only to the store owners, but also to the independent contractors and workers. Same thing happened with restaurants hiring independent servers and chefs. They were bullied and threatened along with the owners.

I am not saying anything against unions in principle, and I am not saying that all unions behave like this -- I don't know if they do -- but I am just saying that unions should not physically become threatening and should also leave room for choice for owners and workers. If there is no choice and if they resort to physically threatening tactics, then doesn't it, at least in a mild sense, become a terror organization? And if they bully independent workers who choose not to join a union, then doesn't it contradict their own supposed purpose of advocating for workers?

 

[gugy]

Unions just need to die…end of discussion

Well, so you rather corporations dictate whatever they want? While sometimes unions can be detrimental, they are one of the very few options workers have to have their rights and dignity held against powerful interests.
Greed is the engine of the American, Inc empire and it's not surprising the middle and lowers classes are being squeezed at a rapid pace since the 80s.

 

[russell_314]

Again, the fact that an aerospace and machinist union wants to represent Apple Store retail employees says it all: this is a dying union desperate to boost falling membership numbers in any way possible.

What does a machinist have in common with a person who sells you an iPhone?

Exactly they just want to take from the workers. Unions are a parisite to workers. They do nothing but live off their host.