Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Sure, it could be. I'm not sympathetic, however, to a company with essentially unlimited funds and resources when it declines to even pretend to care about reasonable employee concerns.
Can’t really generalize this as we are not privy to behind the scenes. With the size of the apple retail staff not everybody will be taken care of 100%.

Hell, toward the end Calivas just wanted to transfer to another store so he wouldn't have to work under a specific manager, and Apple evidently wouldn't even accommodate that. It's absurd.
Don’t know the flip side of it.
 
Unionization makes little sense for retail employees. These are high turnover entry-level positions.
Retail is one of the most needed areas for unionisation. A skilled worker can just jump ship to another job and likely get a big pay rise. A retail employee will at some point need the union to support them when someone hasn’t filed their hours correctly or some store manager is trying to frame them for stealing from the till when he is in fact the one that was stealing(True story ‘Co-operative, Anstruther’ and that isn’t the only time in existence.)

I will likely never need the services of a union. I am in a very high paid position and have a skill set that would take years of training a replacement, that’s my leverage. Someone flipping burgers or serving people at a cash register have no leverage when the store manager decides to drop their hours, forget to put their pay in the system so they can wait till next month for their pay, or fire them because it is a Tuesday.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TuffLuffJimmy
Can’t really generalize this as we are not privy to behind the scenes. With the size of the apple retail staff not everybody will be taken care of 100%.


Don’t know the flip side of it.
Again, yes, not everyone will be taken care of fully while others will be fully satisfied. Usually, however, that doesn’t escalate to the point of an employee ending his own life due to work-related issues because his manager hated him and he wasn’t able to have his concerns heard or, at minimum, work at another store.

In that specific case, there doesn’t really need to be a “flip side”; it’s a clear failure on Apple’s part to accommodate the needs of a longtime employee. Maybe he was a bad employee, but if so, it’s reasonable to doubt that he’d have worked at Apple for almost a decade. Even Walmart — not exactly known for stellar employee relations — will often allow an employee to transfer between stores. It’s a failure, and it can happen anywhere, but Apple retail employees seem to be suggesting that it’s far from the only time where those with the power to fix things have failed to hear and act upon employees’ concerns.

Plus, if the “flip side” were substantially better than reported, we’d likely have heard it — Apple was contacted for comment on that story and declined to issue any serious rebuttal.
 
  • Like
Reactions: maxoakland
When you have presidents and prime minsters running countries on wages less than $500,000 a year, people who have way more responsibility and duty than a CEO ever will, as far as i'm concerned no CEO should be paid over a million $$$ in wages. Hell, the most powerful position in the world (depending on your outlook of things), the president of the United States only gets a salary of $400,000 and people think the likes of Tim Cook is worthy of multimillions because of the decisions he has to make!!!!, no, hell no. Apple and many other multi nationals can funnel the majority of their profits back into the company and to it's employees but they don't. The large portion of it goes to shareholders and corporate executives and what little remains goes to the front line workers.
In the last 60 years Biden has never had a job other than pool life guard and driving a truck. 🙄

He has spent his entire career in government and is worth millions if not billions. Don't think government leaders are one paycheck away from sleeping on the streets.
 
In the last 60 years Biden has never had a job other than pool life guard and driving a truck. 🙄

He has spent his entire career in government and is worth millions if not billions. Don't think government leaders are one paycheck away from sleeping on the streets.
Cue the Ukraine-Hunter Biden reference.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: maxoakland
Back in the day (1994-1996), I worked at CompUSA. I had to Google whether we had a union - I don't recall. I remember clocking in, working as a repair tech (focused on Mac desktops and PC notebooks), and then getting a shot to be a trainer. It was pretty good. Paid well, treated fairly.

Compared with working in grocery, where I was in a union, and the working conditions were complete garbage.

So I'm not sure what unions will do for Apple workers.

(yes, CompUSA imploded, not the least of which was being owned by Carlos Slim)
I remember when CompUSA was Soft Warehouse, a one-store operation on Beltway Drive (or was it Beltwood Parkway?) in Addison. It was owned by two brothers from South Africa then (like 1986 or 1987). You picked out what you wanted from shelves in the front of the store, then went up to a window and told them what you wanted, and someone picked it from stock in the back. This was when they sold stuff like a Western Digital 20Mb (not 20Gb) hard drive and a Western Digital MFM controller (or an RLL controller, if you wanted the 20Mb magically turned into 30Mb)
 
If the guy had put in a lot of years, it may be very important to his pension.

Exactly. There was a guy at the university I worked at that was 'fired' for a totally BS reason. The union got him his job back, and the next year he retired, full pension. Part of him going back was they appeared to have wanted to screw him out of his pension. Employers do that kind of crap to workers. One job I worked at had a ridiculous 90 day probationary period, and a history of not 'extending contracts' past that probationary end date. They got three months of labor out of someone without having to cover any of their benefit package costs. Nasty... They ended up going bankrupt and I clapped. The union, for their most recent contract had to give that to management to get an agreement, and they exploited that to no end.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pastrychef
Socialists don't kill?

Weren't you the one complaining about people putting words in your mouth? How ironic.


Since Apple is the largest company in America, how many murders have they been convicted of?

None, because we have laws in place for that kind of thing. Why? Unions and their supporters throughout the years pressured the government for things like labor laws, minimum wage, unemployment benefits, etc. We'd be a third world country filled with indentured servants without the labor movements in the early 20th century.
 
  • Like
Reactions: maxoakland
Weren't you the one complaining about people putting words in your mouth? How ironic.




None, because we have laws in place for that kind of thing. Why? Unions and their supporters throughout the years pressured the government for things like labor laws, minimum wage, unemployment benefits, etc. We'd be a third world country filled with indentured servants without the labor movements in the early 20th century.

What did I put in your mouth?

You said, "Given a choice between a world where corporations could basically have people killed on demand and socialism, any person with the slightest amount of morals would choose socialism."

So now, you say Apple hasn't killed anyone. Do corporations kill or not? Make up your mind.

Stop pushing that crazy nonsense.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cesar Battistini
It will be interesting to see how far unions go in a 'right to work' state. I'm sure some states have outlawed unions almost entirely. The idea that someone could come in and just fire people because they had a bad night or something is insane.

But unions had(have) a place in employment in this country because of the crap employers pulled on their workers. Increasingly employees are viewed as liabilities and are treated as such. Playing games with hours, with pay, with benefits. Delphi used to have great benefits, but after their bankruptcy, and theft of pension funds, the Chinese company that bought their assets now doesn't offer benefits (from what I've heard) and you have to 'buy in' for anything. It's all on you to pay for what you want, health insurance, vision, dental, and a retirement plan.Gone is any even remote idea of loyalty to employees. They are a mouth to feed, a liability, and it seems fun to watch them suffer. The pandemic seems to have had many people rethink their relationship (or lack there of) with their employer.

Speaking of grocery workers, my mom worked a grocery job after we all had moved out. Their 'break room' was the soda storage area of the warehouse. People literally sat on the pallets of sodas and beer. She would come home and have to lay on the floor to relax her back. She eventually quit it because it just wasn't worth it. She was a 'people person', but it all just wasn't worth it. management were nasty butt heads. She lead a bunch of others to quit too after she left. management didn't care, they just hired more youngsters and treated them worse likely...

The 'investor class' HATE unions. They have focused their might on making people hate unions too. Right to work states are an open war on unions, and too many are treated worse in those states. IF a union is really helpful to the membership, they can go a long way to make the employment experience a great one. If the union is corrupted by management and/or outside groups, it'll suck. But one thing is the deck is being stacked in the employers favor far too much, and this union push at Apple and Starbucks, etc, is a way to swing some of that power back to employees. Employees are real living breathing people, and it seems ridiculous to have to force an employer to recognize that fact. *shrug*

I'm thinking of getting a job. Retirement isn't all wine and roses. Plus I work too hard for the wife now. :oops::rolleyes::cool:🥵
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: maxoakland
Again, yes, not everyone will be taken care of fully while others will be fully satisfied. Usually, however, that doesn’t escalate to the point of an employee ending his own life due to work-related issues because his manager hated him and he wasn’t able to have his concerns heard or, at minimum, work at another store.
Unfortunately an employee ending their life is not an isolated incident. Sure I can dig up some examples via google. With 120,000 employees it’s not possible to keep all happy at the same time.
In that specific case, there doesn’t really need to be a “flip side”; it’s a clear failure on Apple’s part to accommodate the needs of a longtime employee.
I disagree there always is another side.
Maybe he was a bad employee, but if so, it’s reasonable to doubt that he’d have worked at Apple for almost a decade. Even Walmart — not exactly known for stellar employee relations — will often allow an employee to transfer between stores.
You don’t know the entire story and are judging on an article in the verge.
It’s a failure, and it can happen anywhere, but Apple retail employees seem to be suggesting that it’s far from the only time where those with the power to fix things have failed to hear and act upon employees’ concerns.
Out of the tens of thousands of retail employees how many want things their way and didn’t get it?
Plus, if the “flip side” were substantially better than reported, we’d likely have heard it — Apple was contacted for comment on that story and declined to issue any serious rebuttal.
From my experience on MR People don’t stop and say how blue the sky is.
 
What did I put in your mouth?

You said, "Given a choice between a world where corporations could basically have people killed on demand and socialism, any person with the slightest amount of morals would choose socialism."

So now, you say Apple hasn't killed anyone. Do corporations kill or not? Make up your mind.

Stop pushing that crazy nonsense.
So your argument is that if Apple hasn't killed anyone, no corporations have killed anyone? Why did you present an all or nothing question?

Whatever dude, the big picture is that you obviously live a privileged life and don't care to put yourselves in the shoes of people you deem to be lesser than you. I'm done.
 
So your argument is that if Apple hasn't killed anyone, no corporations have killed anyone? Why did you present an all or nothing question?

Whatever dude, the big picture is that you obviously live a privileged life and don't care to put yourselves in the shoes of people you deem to be lesser than you. I'm done.

Which American corporations are killing people???

I mean, premeditated murder.
 
Last edited:
So your argument is that if Apple hasn't killed anyone, no corporations have killed anyone? Why did you present an all or nothing question?

Whatever dude, the big picture is that you obviously live a privileged life and don't care to put yourselves in the shoes of people you deem to be lesser than you. I'm done.
How often has THIS happened at an Apple Store?

 
  • Like
Reactions: pastrychef
That’s so cool! Good for them. Hope every Apple store follows their lead

curious how this may help them or makes sense for retail, I can see it for a craft or profession. I've worked retail and its not something I'd want to be in long term

You’re not the only person on the planet. There are lots of people who work in retail for long periods of time.

Maybe some of the reasons you didn’t like it can be solved by unionizing
 
Last edited:
Don't care if he's the General, $400/k a year?!?!

You failed to address this part:

Seven lifeguards in Los Angeles made more than $300,000 a year including benefits, and 82 made more than $200,000, government watchdog group OpenTheBooks found.

The top-paid lifeguard made $392,000 in compensation in 2020, and 31 lifeguards made between $50,000 and $131,000 in just overtime.


Lifeguards can retire at age 55 and get 79% of their pay for life.

Again, no wonder California is the complete mess that it is.
I still don't understand how this is a bad thing? They quite literary negotiated a great deal as workers in a union. Because their union are competent.

They negotiated a great hourly wage.
They negotiated a great pension plan
they negotiated great benefits.

Can you make up your mind?
Do you like it if workers negotiate a good deal, or should they just be punked?
 
  • Like
Reactions: maxoakland
Don't care if he's the General, $400/k a year?!?!

You failed to address this part:

Seven lifeguards in Los Angeles made more than $300,000 a year including benefits, and 82 made more than $200,000, government watchdog group OpenTheBooks found.

The top-paid lifeguard made $392,000 in compensation in 2020, and 31 lifeguards made between $50,000 and $131,000 in just overtime.


Lifeguards can retire at age 55 and get 79% of their pay for life.

Again, no wonder California is the complete mess that it is.

I'm confused, is this supposed to be a bad thing? Can you point out what exactly is wrong with this?

Price has always been the feedback mechanism in any free market. If lifeguards are able to negotiate that, then that is what their labor is worth in that locale.
 
  • Like
Reactions: I7guy
Coca Cola, Tobacco industry, Bayer (although not american, they did sell HIV tainted blood to third world countries because they knew they couldn’t sell it in the US)

What did Coca Cola do? Btw, Coca Cola is unionized. International Union of Foodworkers.

Are you talking about tobacco companies selling cigarettes? That's a far cry from premeditated murder. If they were as powerful and violent as the left wing nut jobs want you to believe, wouldn't they order hits on people who try to sue them?

Whatever the tobacco companies are guilty of, it doesn't seem to bother the United Tobacco Alliance union. If they are guilty of anything, then isn't the UTA just as guilty in their complicity?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Razorpit
Which American corporations are killing people???

I mean, premeditated murder.

It's hard to prove intent, but there were people that said that if 'corporations are people', they are psychopaths and should be locked up for for the clear and present danger to society.

I just found out that the company that made the vacuum breaker for the sprinkler system was found to be dumping massive quantities of a highly toxic degreaser out their back door, for DECADES, and the underground plume has spread hundreds of miles from the source. They were sued and closed down, only to be bought by another foreign owned conglomerate and reopened. The story of River Rouge literally catching fire and burning wasn't a lie. Rivers outside of chemical companies changed color depending on what they were 'releasing' that day.

There is a video called 'The Corporation' that shows the total lack of respect for human life many corporations have had.

A company near where I lived was caught dumping toxins in the river that ran through several towns. A spokesperson said, at one meeting, that it 'wasn't personal, it was a business decision'. People there gasped, and no one ever saw that guy ever again. They largely got away without major expense too. It was presented that people that worked in 'sensitive positions' on the floor were being tested weekly, and some almost daily for possible contamination, a requirement fought for by the union, and yet just dumped things in the river. It was less expensive than treating the waste. YIKES...

Good that their union required employee testing, but their recklessness in regards to the general public seems to nullify some of that.

So, are they killing people? Yes. The problem is, it wasn't with a gun, it was with toxic pollution. Sad...
 
It's hard to prove intent, but there were people that said that if 'corporations are people', they are psychopaths and should be locked up for for the clear and present danger to society.

I just found out that the company that made the vacuum breaker for the sprinkler system was found to be dumping massive quantities of a highly toxic degreaser out their back door, for DECADES, and the underground plume has spread hundreds of miles from the source. They were sued and closed down, only to be bought by another foreign owned conglomerate and reopened. The story of River Rouge literally catching fire and burning wasn't a lie. Rivers outside of chemical companies changed color depending on what they were 'releasing' that day.

There is a video called 'The Corporation' that shows the total lack of respect for human life many corporations have had.

A company near where I lived was caught dumping toxins in the river that ran through several towns. A spokesperson said, at one meeting, that it 'wasn't personal, it was a business decision'. People there gasped, and no one ever saw that guy ever again. They largely got away without major expense too. It was presented that people that worked in 'sensitive positions' on the floor were being tested weekly, and some almost daily for possible contamination, a requirement fought for by the union, and yet just dumped things in the river. It was less expensive than treating the waste. YIKES...

Good that their union required employee testing, but their recklessness in regards to the general public seems to nullify some of that.

So, are they killing people? Yes. The problem is, it wasn't with a gun, it was with toxic pollution. Sad...

This is a bit different from corporations killing people "on demand".

Screen Shot 2022-06-21 at 7.11.43 AM.png
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.