A leaked document published by Motherboard/Vice shows that Apple is issuing memos to Apple Store managers giving tips on how to talk about unions. The goal is to prevent unions from forming.
The document shown indicates that one should first emphasize the positive aspects of working in an Apple Store. For example, everyone is unique and has a special background. Apple also believes that a union could negatively affect employees’ individual relationships with management.
Apple emphasizes that a union could also have disadvantages for employees: benefits and promotions would be awarded according to strict rules, such as length of service, while Apple would place more emphasis on the quality of work.
An outside union that doesn’t know Apple or our culture would make things more complex and rigid.
In the memo, Apple also emphasizes how it responds to employees and also introduces changes to make the workplace better.
Currently, there are efforts in Atlanta, New York City, and Towson, Maryland in the U.S. in Apple stores to form a union. Apple adheres to the respective labor laws globally, although these naturally vary greatly from country to country. A large part of the production takes place in China, because the workers there can be paid less. But there are also big differences between German and U.S. employees: since employees in Germany are much better protected by laws than in the U.S., this also explains why the movement in the U.S. is gaining momentum. Many of the benefits that workers in the U.S. want have already been fought for in Germany.
