Unionized Maryland Apple Store Workers Request 10% Raise and Option to Accept Customer Tips

[GizmoDVD]

Go into a McDonalds or Taco Bell these days. They have a LOT less employees hanging around than they did a few years ago.

They both have kiosks now too.

Apple Stores seem to have a lot of employees....most of whom seem to spend a lot of time talking to people. I can see that changing.

Unions will protect the loser employees who do nothing and promote them not based on job performance, but how long they’ve been employed there.

I just love how stupid these demands are because it makes it so easy for Apple to close this store or have the employees strike.

 

[Analog Kid]

Not at all. But if the employer can plant a seed with the union (e.g. - "maybe we could add tips into the deal..."), then they can get the union to acquiesce on some other material demand, resulting in the corporation coming out ahead. It's the same tactic corporations use with service workers..."Here's how much you can expect to make: salary + tips = something barely livable!". They condition the workers to view tips as an expected part of their total compensation.

Except that the whole point of a union is that the company isn't using the tactic on a service worker, they're bargaining with a collective. Yes, both sides are angling for the best deal they can achieve. It's one thing though to assume that an individual is powerless, but what you're suggesting is that, in aggregate, they're also stupid.

 

[OriginalAppleGuy]

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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.

Article Link: Unionized Maryland Apple Store Workers Request 10% Raise and Option to Accept Customer Tips

As someone who worked for tips - as a waiter - I despise people who earn a wage asking for tips. It's rude. Putting it on the transaction makes people feel compelled to think it's a normal thing. Hope the store closes.

 

[5232152]

Yes, strange isn't it. And for other products it's expected to haggle....

Even more ridiculous when you got a discount coupon that ends up covering the tip amount?!

 

[monstermash]

Personally, I think unions should be legal but employers should have no legal obligation to deal with them, and no person should be required to associate with a union as a condition for having any particular job, nor be required to give one money unless it is 100% voluntary.

 

[techfreak23]

I used to work for an authorized dealer for a few years, and I had several people tip me. If other people helped, we would share the tip, but not with everyone in the store. One lady didn't even give me money. She just bought me lunch. Our business didn't have a policy against it. Some people were just so grateful for helping resolve something they couldn't or finding them the perfect purchase. We were on the Central Coast in California, so a lot of our customers were well-off retirees. I never got anything more than $20 and it only happened a handful of times over the few years I was there. I don't really see anything wrong with them asking to change what is likely a store policy to not accept tips from customers. A little weird to see it during the checkout process for a computer store, but not entirely out of left field. People have probably offered them tips many times, which is why this is a point of contention.

I get that most people don't like tipping, but it is almost always optional. The places that charge a mandatory group or party "gratuity" are ridiculous. It's not a "gratuity" if it is mandatory.

 

[kingtj1971]

Apple made $117 Billion revenue last quarter. FFS pay these people more. And for those who demonise Unions. You happy for obscene corporate profits while underpaying the very staff that are responsible? As for tipping, that's a bit counterproductive. In Australia we dont tip and businesses have to pay people appropriately. Tips generally are used as an excuse to subsidise the wages when the business should be paying people more.

This is really the bottom line. I'm not much of an apologist for many of the workers in entry-level type jobs whining they need "more pay" and "a living wage". The whole POINT to entry-level positions is to provide a starting point for new workers in the labor pool who don't bring a whole lot to the table. They just need to get their feet wet, learning to get used to the basic expectations of keeping a job. The pay is intended to be enough for people still living under someone else's roof to have something to spend (or save); not to fund them raising a whole family on it.

But work in Apple retail is a lot more demanding than your fast food or typical retail cashier work. A whole lot of lower IQ people out there can manage to work a register and give proper change but they're really NOT fit to navigate frustrated and confused customers wanting technical help with their Apple products. I think Apple has skated by for FAR too long, getting people to do this work for less pay than is appropriate, simply because they wanted Apple on their resume and liked the prestige of saying they worked there.

Apple wants to present itself as an upscale option.... a superior (if more expensive) choice for all of your media, electronics and devices/computers. It's time the pay scale for working in their stores is in line with that. And if it took unionization to push Apple there, then so be it.

The idea about "tipping" is pathetic though. Shouldn't have come up as part of the discussion at all. If I ever really did want to tip an employee there for going above and beyond, I'd just slip them some non-taxed/traceable cash.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

I had no idea Apple now includes wait staff serving food and refreshments as part of that full technical dining, new purchase meal with every new Apple in-store product.

 

[monstermash]

This is really the bottom line. I'm not much of an apologist for many of the workers in entry-level type jobs whining they need "more pay" and "a living wage". The whole POINT to entry-level positions is to provide a starting point for new workers in the labor pool who don't bring a whole lot to the table. They just need to get their feet wet, learning to get used to the basic expectations of keeping a job. The pay is intended to be enough for people still living under someone else's roof to have something to spend (or save); not to fund them raising a whole family on it.

But work in Apple retail is a lot more demanding than your fast food or typical retail cashier work. A whole lot of lower IQ people out there can manage to work a register and give proper change but they're really NOT fit to navigate frustrated and confused customers wanting technical help with their Apple products. I think Apple has skated by for FAR too long, getting people to do this work for less pay than is appropriate, simply because they wanted Apple on their resume and liked the prestige of saying they worked there.

Apple wants to present itself as an upscale option.... a superior (if more expensive) choice for all of your media, electronics and devices/computers. It's time the pay scale for working in their stores is in line with that. And if it took unionization to push Apple there, then so be it.

The idea about "tipping" is pathetic though. Shouldn't have come up as part of the discussion at all. If I ever really did want to tip an employee there for going above and beyond, I'd just slip them some non-taxed/traceable cash.

I've never understood why people think tip income should somehow be immune from income taxes....especially since they're often the same people who are otherwise hell bent on demanding people into various govt programs to support those who can't be bothered to support themselves.

If my income is taxed, why shouldn't everyone else's be as well?

 

[Camarillo Brillo]

I've never understood why people think tip income should somehow be immune from income taxes....especially since they're often the same people who are otherwise hell bent on demanding people into various govt programs to support those who can't be bothered to support themselves.

If my income is taxed, why shouldn't everyone else's be as well?

Especially when it makes up such a large part of their pay…

Anyone who’s worked in sales where a portion of the paycheck is designated as ‘commission’ knows you get hit even harder with taxes on that portion

 

[monstermash]

Especially when it makes up such a large part of their pay…

Anyone who’s worked in sales where a portion of the paycheck is designated as ‘commission’ knows you get hit even harder with taxes on that portion

You don't get "hit harder". You pay the same tax rate on your income whether it is from sales or being a professional crack smoker.

What you MAY experience is higher than normal taxes withheld from a particular check, depending on a variety of factors. But when you file your return, it all comes out same-same.

$100K in sales results in the same tax as $100K from working at McDonald's, everything being equal.

 

[redheeler]

These Apple people are not demanding all customer's tip them... nor for Apple Inc. to tip them. I suspect that in service to some customers, some of those customers offer them a tip in appreciation. Apparently, they can't accept any such tip right now. They are apparently wanting that policy to change. If a customer offers them a tip, they want to be able to take it.

This is not about seeking a tip for a simple transactional service like selling a phone. But maybe someone spends 30 minutes to teach someone how to solve some problem or how to use some app features, etc. And that 1+ person objectively wants to give them something for good service. I'm not sure "we" should be passionately against it. That's between customer seeking help and the person delivering the help they want/need. Some customers might want to tip. That's THEIR business.

Someone comes in with all of their (subjectively priceless) data apparently lost. An Apple representative is able to figure out that its not really lost and helps them recover it. It's not hard to see that panicked customer perhaps wanting to reward the help with more than just a "thank you."

No one would ever be forced to tip- just as it is in all transactions. But if some customers want to tip for good service, that's not exactly an unheard of, insane or greedy concept. Those in industries where tipping is "normal" would even argue that the potential of getting some tips motivates employees to try even harder to deliver outstanding service... to EVERYONE (because even those purely motivated by tips doesn't know until AFTER they deliver service whether they get a tip or not).

If it's not mandatory to tip, I don't personally see anything wrong with this want at all. When my hot pizza is delivered on time in a little while by someone with only the skill of driving, I'll likely give them a few dollars. If my car won't start and someone pulls over to give me a jump to get me rolling again, I'm very likely inclined to give them something for their time & trouble too. If someone spends some service time at an Apple store teaching me how to do something I can't figure out, it's not like I would naturally NOT be moved to tip for good service either. Is pizza delivery or broken down car help and in-person tech help/services so different that only the former should be OPTIONALLY tip-able? I don't feel that way.

"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."

A tipping system like this isn't based on gratitude, it's based on gilt and social pressure. The employee staring down at you as you have to deliberately put in $0 to complete the transaction without a tip.

 

[monstermash]

"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."

A tipping system like this isn't based on gratitude, it's based on gilt and social pressure. The employee staring down at you as you have to deliberately put in $0 to complete the transaction without a tip.

The best thing to do is look at them and smile (or laugh) as you enter 0 for tip. Bonus points if you comment, "tip? Hahahahahahahhahahahahahahah"

 

[bmot]

Apple made $117 Billion revenue last quarter. FFS pay these people more.

This is exactly why Apple makes that profit. Because they don’t pay their employees more.

 

[seek3r]

Minimum wage is the minimum wage employers are allowed to pay you in the USA, it's not intended to be a living wage. If it were, it would be called living wage and not minimum wage.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread it was literally and *explicitly* meant as a living wage. Nearly the exact wording FDR used (I also posted that earlier in the thread). You folks who think it isnt either had crap history teachers or didnt pay attention in class

 

[monstermash]

Minimum wage should be abolished anyway.

 

[gugy]

In our current reality, we live in a world that has been largely corporatized. Companies like Apple, Amazon, Walmart, and Starbucks have gained immense power and often behave as if they have a monopoly. The sad truth is that we can't rely on the government to change this situation because both political parties are influenced and corrupted by these same powerful forces. The decline of manufacturing in the USA is a clear example of how corporations prioritize their profits over the well-being of the middle class.

It's hard for me to comprehend why unions, the ones that are truly dedicated to advocating for their members, receive so much vitriol. The truth is that we desperately need to demand change from the bottom up. Without this, we are heading towards a bleak future where things will only get worse. It's up to the people to make their voices heard and demand a more just and equitable society.

 

[monstermash]

In our current reality, we live in a world that has been largely corporatized. Companies like Apple, Amazon, Walmart, and Starbucks have gained immense power and often behave as if they have a monopoly. The sad truth is that we can't rely on the government to change this situation because both political parties are influenced and corrupted by these same powerful forces. The decline of manufacturing in the USA is a clear example of how corporations prioritize their profits over the well-being of the middle class.

It's hard for me to comprehend why unions, the ones that are truly dedicated to advocating for their members, receive so much vitriol. The truth is that we desperately need to demand change from the bottom up. Without this, we are heading towards a bleak future where things will only get worse. It's up to the people to make their voices heard and demand a more just and equitable society.

The reason is generally simple. Unions do little for the competent and industrious and protect the rest.

I once had a union job. The union protested my promotion for the sole reason that it meant that my position would be represented by a DIFFERENT UNION. So, here was a case where my union, which is supposed to look out for me, was perfectly willing to block my promotion and screw me over, simply to protect its own interests.

So...yeah. Screw unions.

 

[GizmoDVD]

This is exactly why Apple makes that profit. Because they don’t pay their employees more.

How much “more” should they pay their employees to make you feel good? Do you know how much they currently get paid?

 

[martinX]

You can slip them a $10 or $20 today if you want,

How does one do that? I haven't seen anyone use cash at an Apple store. And having a "tip jar" just cheapens the whole experience.

 

[seek3r]

No. Are you?

But I don't think we're supposed to talk about politics in here - I guess it offends some people.

We're in the political news section, it's ok here, so I really do have to ask, if you're not trolling what possible reason could you have to view Lincoln as literally the worst US president in history? I'm legit curious what someone can come up with on that position

 

[seek3r]

Teens, first jobs, 2nd jobs for extra cash? The point is retail jobs aren’t supposed to be household sustaining.

ok, who works the job 8-4 when teens are in school and everyone is at their primary job?

 

[monstermash]

ok, who works the job 8-4 when teens are in school and everyone is at their primary job?

Since when do Apple stores open at 8am?

 

[frenchcamp49er]

Any business would not agree to an absurd contract like they are proposing

 

[frenchcamp49er]

Apple kiosks coming to that store soon. They already dont have a register so just give us a kiosk and I can grab my item and pay without the need for some person to ask for a tip for doing absolutely nothing