In a statement sent before the results were announced, Apple spokesman Josh Lipton wrote, “We are fortunate to have incredible members of the retail team, and we deeply value every what they bring to Apple. We are pleased to offer very high compensation and benefits to our full-time and part-time employees, including healthcare, tuition reimbursement, new parents’ leave, paid leave, Annual stock allowance and many other benefits. ”
Members wrote a open letter told CEO Tim Cook about their union, called the Coalition of Organized Retail Employees, or CORE, and asked him not to launch an anti-union campaign. It has become useless. The company has maintained the union avoidance company Littler Mendelson, the same company used by Starbucks. This was followed by a near-daily march of anti-union rhetoric, some at daily meetings, known as “downloads,” and some in person. Managers will take individuals out of the store to walk and talk, sometimes as often as hours, DiMaria said. At the end of May, Apple sent a video to all stores in the United States with the presence of vice president of retail Deirdre O’Brien. She warns employees that “may limit our ability to make immediate, large-scale changes to improve your experience.”
DiMaria said Apple deployed intimidation tactics to try to mislead workers into believing that if the union won, they could lose their benefits, that attendance policies would become stricter and that they wouldn’t be able to. meet your manager if there is no union. He said they appear to be tailoring their message to individual employees, something a worker in the Atlanta store said happened there as well.
Apple has taken a different approach from Atlanta in scheduling team meetings to discuss the alliance. They were previously required, according to Atlanta store workers. At Towson, they are billed as voluntary, although they automatically appear on employees’ schedules and they must actively opt-out. The change in tactics after one Remember board from the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board Jennifer Abruzzo said that such so-called detainee meetings were illegal. Following that guidance, the union representing the Atlanta store filed an unfair labor practice change with the NLRB.
Members of the suspended union effort in Atlanta contacted Apple employees at other stores, including Towson, to advise them on what to expect from Apple and how to resist. “When a manager says something in a public forum, it’s not enough to say it’s not true,” said Derrick Bowles, Atlanta employee and organizing committee member. The worker needs to go one step further and explain why the claim is illogical.
Bowles said that managers tried to brand union organizers in Atlanta as aggressors, frequently introducing terms like “stress” and “bullying,” which he contested. arguing in meetings. He said other Apple workers running union campaigns need to get these managers in place. “Like, ‘You said we could lose benefits. Is that a threat? Is that what you want to put in the text? ‘ You have to put leadership on the defensive. If you’re on the defensive, you lose.”
