In 2003, I worked in the Food and Beverage industry at Dave and Busters. Servers were paid between $3.50 x $4 per hour plus tips. Meanwhile front line mgrs were starting out at $45K, mid level mgrs were starting at $95K and the top level mgr was pulling in $250K with bonuses.
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Unionized Maryland Apple Store Workers Request 10% Raise and Option to Accept Customer Tips
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Totally agree and it’s the reason I avoid going to restaurant's.
Before COVID I used to visit the US at least once a year, visiting friends. I just got back from my first trip since COVID and I noticed that every single shop, being it clothing, luggage etc, had the option to give a tip. I was like baffled, because why the hell would I want to leave somebody a tip because they scanned two labels and put it in a bag for me? I might not agree with the whole tipping culture in restaurants etc, but hey it is what it is, and I was used to it. But in a store where all the staff does is say three words, scan and put it in a bag? Needless to say I clicked "no tip" every single time. Also my friend said she refuses to tip more than the normal rate (I always take the tax and double it (this is in Arizona) because she fears (and I think quite rightfully) that before we know it higher tips (like 30% and up) become the norm. It's clearly getting out of hand.
American tipping culture is wild to me.
Tipping in a store now? Wow.
Tipping in a store now? Wow.
IMO, Everyone seems focused on the request to prompt for tips, and while in no way should non-service based retail sales ever request tips, that whole laundry list of requests was, well disgusting, and really giving unions a bad name. Those requests, for the most part, aren't things that people working crazy hours in highly skilled or corporate jobs are eligible, yet apple retail person standing around in the Apple Store feels they should be compensated aggressively? Maybe Apple should verify wages are competitive, but beyond that apple shouldn't even talk with this union.
Problem is that employees will expect tips and feel frustrated when they dont get it , they will also try and "land" the rich customer that might tip them and give him a better service (more so if they tip upfront) while that kid that wants to buy himself an entry level iPad and needs help will get ignored or get sub par service so the employee can move to the more likely tipper.
US has gone off the rails when it comes to tips , both on what work should get tips and the amount , in my last business trip to California my coworker asked me if I was disappointed with the food or service when I tipped 15% (which is the high ceiling in my country for tips) , apparently anything less then 20% is saying you had issues with the service/food.
The 45 days they want is total bereavement leave, not pets FWIW.
If, say, a parent dies 45 days is reasonable (mourning aside ever had to clean out a parent’s house and handle all the paperwork? Out of state? My MIL passed recently, it took a year of weekends and sporadic full weeks to get everything done).
45 days is a lot for a pet, absolutely, but a few days not really. I would bet the union would settle on the pet getting a small slice of that 45 days
I do wonder if the tip at PoS request is one intended to be dropped in negotiations as something to “give ground on” without giving up anything they actually want.
I "love" how the typical American reaction is to fight each other instead of considering the whole picture and who is actually increasing your prices if these employees were to get a big raise:
The trillion dollar company could easily(!) take several many pay cuts from raising wages while keeping prices for consumers the same.
Apple's executives raises your prices based on what they need in profit margins, not employees.
But instead we get workers fighting workers to not unionize and belittling each other and scrutinizing each others' jobs and salaries, all just underlining how overworked and underpaid the average American is.
Let the rats fight each other the scraps down in the basement while the kings on the third floor are sipping champagne and planning their next vacation.
The trillion dollar company could easily(!) take several many pay cuts from raising wages while keeping prices for consumers the same.
Apple's executives raises your prices based on what they need in profit margins, not employees.
But instead we get workers fighting workers to not unionize and belittling each other and scrutinizing each others' jobs and salaries, all just underlining how overworked and underpaid the average American is.
Let the rats fight each other the scraps down in the basement while the kings on the third floor are sipping champagne and planning their next vacation.
So do you propose that everyone should be paid the same wage? A clerk in a store should make the same as the engineer who developed the product? If these mall jobs paid $60,000 or $70,000 per year, plus all the benefits and time off they are looking for, then you would need a second job to be able to afford your iPhone!
Most people in America are no working in a union job, and are not working 6 days a week 10 hours a day for half pay.
The thing is, if the company offered 45 days of bereavement, every one of these workers would take all 45 days every year. I was the engineering manager for a company, and we offered a certain number of sick days per year, and all the people who worked in my department took every single sick day, every year. How times have changed. My father was a banker, and in 35 years, never called in sick.
Min wage was *absolutely* intended to raise a family on. This is part of what FDR said on the subject:
“It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living.”
And, ignoring that if a job needs doing the wage shouldnt be basrd on age (how do you know a HS student isnt helping support their family? Or for that matter an emancipated minor and supporting themselves?) how, exactly, would you expect jobs like this to be handled by HS students? Should all retail close between 8 and 4 every day on school days?
Ok, the average wage in USA is $29.21 per hour. Would you be prepared to the increases in costs of goods if all the typical minimum wage jobs paid this?
Yes, because I understand that
1) higher wages pump more money into the economy instead of letting it pool at the top and keep money moving, essential for a system like outs to actually work (the technical term would be “velocity of money”). People can spend more if they arent burning their whole paycheck on food and housing. Long run that means more people can afford to pay for the services *I* work on. Long run that means less of my taxes are needed to cover the gap that company’s wages dont. Long run that means less poverty, less hungry people, less people without housing, less crime, and a more stable country
2) wages are not the only component of the cost of goods, nor are they what companies determine sale price point vs profit margin solely based on so prices dont scale linearly based on wage increases.
10% increase is also a lot, Apple Store staff is well paid.
Also let’s turn this around for a sec: you’re arguing in this thread that retail jobs should be done by children at poverty wages to keep your goods cost down (retail on what are mostly essentially luxury goods no less, not staple products). Do you *really* intend that? Did you pull your position from a dickens novel?
Tip in an Apple Store? What a joke! Has to be the most un Apple thing ever.
Couldn't Apple simply instal a tips jar near the door, one with a hand-lettered sign?
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It’s sad that anyone would click the dislike icon for that post. How can people be happy for corporations’ executives making obscenely high profits while simultaneously opposing the idea of said corporation’s retail workers being paid a living wage?
45 days for pet bereavement. This reads like an onion article
Employees at the unionized Towson, Maryland Apple Store are this week negotiating with Apple for new benefits, and have asked for higher pay, tips, and changes to leave policies, reports Bloomberg.
Employee representatives have requested raises of up to 10 percent and they want Apple to implement a tipping system that would provide customers with the option to offer 3%, 5%, or custom tips when checking out with an in-store credit card transaction. "This will allow thankful patrons the ability to express gratitude for a job well done without any obligations," the union said. Tip money would be split among employees based on hours worked.
The union is requesting double pay for employees who work more than eight hours per day or 40 hours a week, along with more pay for employees working overtime on weekends. Employees also want higher pay over a larger number of holidays, a $1 an hour increase for workers who become first-aid certified, up to 34 weeks of severance pay for layoffs, extended paid bereavement leave up to 45 days per year, with pets and close friends to be included under the allowed time off, and expanded vacation pay.
The union said that "these are initial proposals" and that it realizes that this "is a negotiation." Apple's Towson, Maryland store unionized last summer, and it is one of two unionized retail locations.
Article Link: Unionized Maryland Apple Store Workers Request 10% Raise and Option to Accept Customer Tips
Tipping to supplement a persons wages should be banned. Minimum wage limits should be brought in. Good customer service should not be rewarded with tips as a rule, it's reward should be customers coming back time and time again BUT there can be a situation where tips should be made available for customers to use if they chose to and that is if customers feel the worker has gone above and beyond to help them (done more than what their job entails). There have been a number examples of this which have been reported in the tabloid press where a parent with a disabled child has been looking for something that the child specifically needs because it is the only thing that keeps them happy and content but the item is out of stock and no where to be found and all the parents keeps on hearing from company staff is 'Sorry, out of stock' and again 'sorry, out of stock and have no idea when it will be restocked' but then you hear of an employee of a company that is connected to the item goes out of their way to investigate where the item maybe and finds some stock then contacts the parent to say stock has been found and to contact them to get it sent to the parent. The employee did not have to go to such levels but they did and as such this is the type of thing where tipping can be of use.
Life experiences tells us when a person is just doing their normal job duties versus a person who goes beyond their normal job duties and it is those people who should be rewarded. Far to often we hear from staff 'sorry, out of stock, cannot help you' and off they go carrying on with their job or 'sorry, there is nothing I can do' and off they go carrying on with their job and for the most part that is fine because they are doing the bare minimum of what their job entails but then you get those who go 'it's not really my place but leave it with me and I will see what can do'. Like I said, life experiences teaches us who is doing just doing their job and those who are just doing their job but then some. Those who are the 'then some' should be rewarded and that is when tips can help.
Life experiences tells us when a person is just doing their normal job duties versus a person who goes beyond their normal job duties and it is those people who should be rewarded. Far to often we hear from staff 'sorry, out of stock, cannot help you' and off they go carrying on with their job or 'sorry, there is nothing I can do' and off they go carrying on with their job and for the most part that is fine because they are doing the bare minimum of what their job entails but then you get those who go 'it's not really my place but leave it with me and I will see what can do'. Like I said, life experiences teaches us who is doing just doing their job and those who are just doing their job but then some. Those who are the 'then some' should be rewarded and that is when tips can help.
I can understand the raise demands, but tips..lol..This isn’t a restaurant. They’re making fools of themselves.