Apple is usually at the hub of several controversies manually. This is usually the situation with many multinational companies. After being called a bully, Apple agreed to negotiate with the Australian union. The Australian Apple Store retail union asked the country’s Fair Work Commission to intervene. Apple’s recommendations to Fair Work Australia include a minimum wage rate that is 17 per cent higher than the incentive rate. This is in addition to the regular weekend penalty rate. After 8:00 p.m. local time, employees will receive a higher salary. Previously, it is only after 10:00 pm before workers start receiving higher wages. 

Apple Australia – a bully in a cheap suit

Apple is also willing to offer a 2.8% wage increase in 2023. This will be followed by a 2.6% increase in 2024 and 2025. The union wants Apple employees to take at least one weekend off each month. This will be in addition to two consecutive days off when they work on weekends. Gerard Dwyer, national secretary of the Australian Society of Stores, Distribution and Allied Employees, said Apple and the Fair Work Commission should not be allowed to bargain. He is accusing Apple of acting like “bullies in cheap suits”.

“This large multinational should think more about the welfare of its Australian workforce. It is trying to impose a predetermined outcome that it wants to impose and cannot bargain,” Dwyer said. “This is Australia and not the US”.

Apple is also facing increasing unionization efforts in the United States. In June, Apple retail store workers in Maryland voted to unionize. However, Apple reportedly did not plan to vote against it at the time. Nevertheless, according to an employee at “Apple Townsend,” an August report reveals that Apple representatives had raised anti-union talking points.

In April, Apple hired anti-union lawyers from the San Francisco-based law firm Littler Mendelson. This means that the company is getting set for labour and employment lawsuits. Apple has more than 65,000 retail employees. These include employees who sell, repair and troubleshoot products and services. The company’s retail business accounts for 36% of the company’s $366 billion in 2021 revenue.