Apple Illegally Interrogated and Coerced Employees Trying to Unionize in Atlanta, Says U.S. Labor Board

[switz]

Right to work states give the employer complete control to fire a person if their hair is parted the wrong way or some other spurious reason. There is no oversight to be sure everyone does get paid for the hours worked and overtime is actually paid.

 

[steve09090]

Unions are only valuable to bad employees and the union bosses. All others benefit more without them involved. Thank goodness I live in a right to work state which means I can not be forced to join a union as can happen today in non-right to work states. Either join the union or you find another line of work. THAT sounds fair and beneficial???

That's totally naive.

 

[antnythr]

Apple spends hundreds of millions of dollars in their advertising, marketing, and political strategies. That includes things like paying people to scour websites like these and post very pro-Apple and anti-union messages. Chances are you're probably responding to accounts that are literally paid professional trolls.

 

[QuarterSwede]

My guess is that any coercion they claim happened was actually just mandatory meetings where they talked about the benefits and other 'pros' from being employed with Apple today. I went through this with a previous employer. They were allowed to tell us their opinions. And the union was allowed to tell us theirs. But it isnt like the company has to keep their mouths shut. They can tell their side as well.......

Correct. Managers and companies are legally allowed to share Union Facts, Opinions, and their Experiences or FOE for short. I highly doubt Apple did anything but that.

 

[Thunderbird]

My guess is that any coercion they claim happened was actually just mandatory meetings where they talked about the benefits and other 'pros' from being employed with Apple today. I went through this with a previous employer. They were allowed to tell us their opinions. And the union was allowed to tell us theirs. But it isnt like the company has to keep their mouths shut. They can tell their side as well.......

Unions are only valuable to bad employees and the union bosses. All others benefit more without them involved. Thank goodness I live in a right to work state which means I can not be forced to join a union as can happen today in non-right to work states. Either join the union or you find another line of work. THAT sounds fair and beneficial???

Companies shouldn't be allowed to force mandatory anti-union meetings period. If employees want a union, that should be solely up to them, without any interference from the company.

 

[Thunderbird]

Correct. Managers and companies are legally allowed to share Union Facts, Opinions, and their Experiences or FOE for short. I highly doubt Apple did anything but that.

Yeah, I'm sure that's what happened. 🙄

 

[JM]

Apple spends hundreds of millions of dollars in their advertising, marketing, and political strategies. That includes things like paying people to scour websites like these and post very pro-Apple and anti-union messages. Chances are you're probably responding to accounts that are literally paid professional trolls.

A professional mole-troll would say that 🤪

 

[Kkspire]

Atlanta. Who wants to do business there, close the store.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

My guess is that the CWA didn’t have an election because they already knew the employees didn’t want to organize. So now they’re claiming that Apple acted illegally just so they can try to get Apple to throw money at them to withdraw their claim of interference. And they are saying that Apple is using “psychological warfare”? Unions are a business, and they act in the best interests of the union — not employees.

 

[jimbobb24]

Yikes

 

[Chips Stephens]

My guess is that the CWA didn’t have an election because they already knew the employees didn’t want to organize. So now they’re claiming that Apple acted illegally just so they can try to get Apple to throw money at them to withdraw their claim of interference. And they are saying that Apple is using “psychological warfare”? Unions are a business, and they act in the best interests of the union — not employees.

Ummm so then, having a vote…..would not matter then? THIS CLEARLY, exposes the flaw in the logic you use here.

also I wonder what motivates posts like this? Seems to be many just like this in this post.

I myself have mixed feelings about unions, some I have worked with were great, some outright thieves. and have no dog in this fight,

but am looking at a few very questionable post here.

people claim clearly wild guesses here as if fact, unless you are an employee of this retailer, you have no clue, as to what the truth is, nor do I.

but a vote going one way or another, should clear all that up.


all that said, Apples profit levels, and happy share holders, because one must also consider following the money…as to why very questionable posts are being made here.

consider for a second this was an energy company…..would this still be acceptable to you?

It’s a rhetorical question.

 

[leicaman]

Next time Apple talks about how they have to do things differently in China, Russia, or elsehwere, point them to this when they claim they always follow the law.

 

[leicaman]

Apple isn't a terrible employer either and by all accounts is a pretty good employer when it comes to retail staff.

No matter how "good" an employer you are someone will want more from you, especially if you are very successful as the owner.



So just because Apple is successful they should over pay their retail employees versus the market? That doesn't make any sense.

Where did you get the idea they are over-payed? They aren't on Food Stamps like Wal Mart employees?

 

[Karma*Police]

Spoken like a true anti-worker rights employer.

I’ve never been part of a union or had access to them in my career but I’d support unions for any of my employees. Granted I’ve never been such a terrible employer that I’d have to actually negotiate with one.

Apple is a nearly trillion dollar entity. They CAN afford to provide improved working conditions and even pay their staff a little more.

Enough with the corporate and individual greed.

Greed is what’s driving people to join unions and why unions try to get people to join them so that they can collect more dues.

If you owned a supermarket and a 16 yr old who stocks shelves demanded you pay him $35/hr, I highly doubt you’d oblige. If you did, you’d be out of business in no time.

Not all jobs are created equal. It’s about supply/demand. If anyone can do your job, you don’t bring enough value to warrant high pay.

Apple doesn’t make a trillion dollars and the money they do earn isn’t theirs to give away to employees. It belongs to millions of shareholders, and employees can own a piece of the company if they so desire.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

Ummm so then, having a vote…..would not matter then? THIS CLEARLY, exposes the flaw in the logic you use here.

also I wonder what motivates posts like this? Seems to be many just like this in this post.

I myself have mixed feelings about unions, some I have worked with were great, some outright thieves. and have no dog in this fight,

but am looking at a few very questionable post here.

people claim clearly wild guesses here as if fact, unless you are an employee of this retailer, you have no clue, as to what the truth is, nor do I.

but a vote going one way or another, should clear all that up.


all that said, Apples profit levels, and happy share holders, because one must also consider following the money…as to why very questionable posts are being made here.

consider for a second this was an energy company…..would this still be acceptable to you?

It’s a rhetorical question.

You’re missing the point that the CWA chose to withdraw their request to hold an election. If they wanted a vote, why not hold an election? How exactly could Apple be interfering with this? We seem to still have political elections and accept the results — how could a union election at an individual store be more complex than this?

 

[jonblatho]

Apple isn't a terrible employer either and by all accounts is a pretty good employer when it comes to retail staff.

I mean, yeah, the bar is in hell. It's not difficult to do relatively "pretty good" for your employees in retail. That doesn't mean there isn't still room for improvement.

 

[Naraxus]

Good on Apple. They need to squash out any attempts at unionization like the weeds they are by any means necessary

 

[ndouglas]

My guess is that any coercion they claim happened was actually just mandatory meetings where they talked about the benefits and other 'pros' from being employed with Apple today. I went through this with a previous employer. They were allowed to tell us their opinions. And the union was allowed to tell us theirs. But it isnt like the company has to keep their mouths shut. They can tell their side as well.......

Unions are only valuable to bad employees and the union bosses. All others benefit more without them involved. Thank goodness I live in a right to work state which means I can not be forced to join a union as can happen today in non-right to work states. Either join the union or you find another line of work. THAT sounds fair and beneficial???

Wow the hyperbolic posts really come out of the woodwork with these front page posts. “Unions are only valuable to bad employees and the union bosses.” ??? … do some reading on the history of how the 40-hour workweek came about, and how US child labor ended or at least decreased…

 

[Nicky G]

Letting one of the richest companies buy its way out of following the law, for what amounts to minuscule portions of their hoard, seems utterly wrong.

For decades, people have been thrown in jail for selling dime bags, and this kind of crap goes totally unpunished.

Shameful. For Apple, and the system that more-or-less looks the other way.

 

[DogHouseDub]

iWaterboard

 

[frenchcamp49er]

NLRB is worthless and will do what ever the democrats tell them to do.

 

[Born Again]

Why isn’t this an American issue? What happened to republicans being pro union?

 

[I7guy]

Everything apple does flys under the radar, therefore they will get away with this with nobody noticing.

 

[B-Mc-C]

Apple isn't a terrible employer either and by all accounts is a pretty good employer when it comes to retail staff.

No matter how "good" an employer you are someone will want more from you, especially if you are very successful as the owner.



So just because Apple is successful they should over pay their retail employees versus the market? That doesn't make any sense.

They’re already doing that after caving to activists last year. No amount will ever be enough for some people.

 

[B-Mc-C]

Companies shouldn't be allowed to force mandatory anti-union meetings period. If employees want a union, that should be solely up to them, without any interference from the company.

How dare both sides be allowed to explain the pros and cons of the issue at hand! Censor Apple so those retail workers won’t ever know what they don’t know. Ignorance is bliss I guess.