French Union Calls for Apple Retail Store Employee Strike Coinciding with iPhone 5 Launch

[xdxdaustin]

And still the french and other europeans, are on average slimmer than people from the USA. So we must do something right.

Why does it always come down to weight with Europeans! Let me tell you, I was in Europe in a primarily European cruse (very few to no Americans. Few people spoke English, at least as their primary language) around the Mediterranean. Most people were SHOVELING down hamburgers, french fries, and ice cream at record rates. It was like they had never seen food before! Our cities also have much higher air quality due to the vastly lower number of smokers here so we must do something right

 

[Tiger8]

If we declared war, we won. Otherwise it was just a vested interest. I can think of 3 very important terror leaders that have been rubbed out nonetheless.

OBL, who are the other two?

 

[elromano]

my favorites:

In France, they don't call it a "strike" they call it a "revolution"

Hehe, like you will teach us what History is

We have washing machines, driers, dishwashers and more reliable plumbing. All not so common in Europe.

No you're right, in France, we go to the river to wash our clothes

Yet another reason why nobody likes the French

Oh yes... especially US girls... they hate us mate.. believe me

13th month of salary? No wonder Europe is broke!

Have you heard France to be broke? Really? you have great informants man.

French people just love to strike. In France, a 'full-time' work week is 35 hours and companies are required to give workers 2.5 days of paid vacation each month. That's 5 WEEKS OF PAID LEAVE EVERY YEAR.

I worked in the US, I had 4 weeks, and got paid much more.. With regards to the 35h, it is not true for well-paid job... But thank you for your limited information

If only these trust-fund kids knew what real world work was.

HAHA, your "biography" says "University student with a penchant for the dramatic; work a couple of jobs during the year, pay for Apple stuffs.". Man, you're funny !!

 

[brentsg]

i agree

i have lots of friends living in the US, they have an annual bonus which is way more higher than a 13th month...

i am wondering why so much criticism against France... is this ignorance ?

The US are a great country... a great country with very wealthy people on one hand and a lot of working poors on the other hand

We don't want that in Europe

Everyone I know that gets any significant bonus like that is getting it based on performance, and they certainly aren't working retail.

 

[elromano]

my TOP 1:

Our cities also have much higher air quality due to the vastly lower number of smokers here so we must do something right

no comment

 

[macchiato2009]

If we declared war, we won. Otherwise it was just a vested interest. I can think of 3 very important terror leaders that have been rubbed out nonetheless.

are you really proud of having so many dead soldiers just to kick 3 asses ?

 

[urbanlung]

Maybe if you didn't get free lunch, 13 months of pay, crazy numbers of paid holidays and five weeks of paid vacation things wouldn't cost as much... just saying. That cost needs to go somewhere.

Don't even get me started on your taxes. Free healthcare, anyone, anyone?

Are you serious!? Free healthcare is the mark of a civilised society. The US system is almost universally considered woefully inefficient and parasitic. If you think you get a good deal out of your health industry you haven't been paying enough attention.

 

[ps45]

People should also note that Apple charges Europeans more for their products, with the explanation being that 'the costs of doing business in Europe are higher'.

But if they're not meeting these costs, why don't they bring those prices down so they're in line with ours?

(PS while we're nearly on the subject, Apple how's about you start bringing some of your overseas revenue back into the US so that California doesn't end up in bankruptcy?)

 

[gorskiegangsta]

Protesting "working conditions?" No drinking fountain? No meal vouchers? No free month's pay? Really? They work in an Apple Store, not a sweatshop. Wow. Just wow.

Oh come on, walking around a shiny new electronics store, talking to customers and scanning barcodes is exhausting work. /s

Also, what's with "drinking fountains" and "food vouchers" demands? This isn't USSR of 1980s.

 

[marksman]

Let's also keep in mind that France mandates a minimum of 5 weeks paid vacation, and they have a 35 hour work week. Oh and what.. about a dozen paid holidays?

So they basically get 15 months of pay for every 12 months of pay people in the us get.

This is why France is a world leader in numerous cutting edge industries and technologies.

Listen I think we work too much here but what they are doing is absurd

 

[Stephen123]

what a joke.

unions + european "benefits" explain why nothing excellent ever gets done on that side of the world.

Yeah. They'd never discover the Higgs Boson over there... er. Or bullet trains, surely they don't have bullet trains... And what about the rest of Europe like the famous lousy German engineering... oh wait... </sarcasm>

 

[kmv2012]

France has actually prioritized quality of life, something that other countries could learn from.

Here in the US, we get hardly any vacation days, and the moment there is any spare capacity (a tiny bit less to be done than a company's employees can achieve at full speed) then BAM! pink slips.

Note here that it's not France that is going broke, it's Greece and Spain et al. And the US is not exactly booming right now.

It's all very well chuckling about Europe and suggesting as some cretin did above that they don't get anything done (hello?), but at least over there they are not running themselves ragged with two jobs just to meet payments on junk, and occasionally cracking and going postal with guns.

Hell, instead of mocking them, why don't we demand better pay and more time off with our families?

Most sensible comment on here. Well said!

 

[iRumored]

This made me think of the old Cow explanation of governments.. Haha

"French Corporation: You have two cows. You go on strike because you want another cow, more vacation and shorter work weeks. The French government announces that it will never agree to your demands. You go to lunch and eat fabulous food and drink wonderful wine. While you are at lunch, the airline pilots and flight controllers join your strike, shutting down all air traffic. The truckers block all the roads and the dock workers block all the ports. By dinner time the French government announces it agrees with all your demands. Life is good."

 

[ngenerator]

I love this thread

 

[macchiato2009]

France has actually prioritized quality of life, something that other countries could learn from.

Here in the US, we get hardly any vacation days, and the moment there is any spare capacity (a tiny bit less to be done than a company's employees can achieve at full speed) then BAM! pink slips.

Note here that it's not France that is going broke, it's Greece and Spain et al. And the US is not exactly booming right now.

It's all very well chuckling about Europe and suggesting as some cretin did above that they don't get anything done (hello?), but at least over there they are not running themselves ragged with two jobs just to meet payments on junk, and occasionally cracking and going postal with guns.

Hell, instead of mocking them, why don't we demand better pay and more time off with our families?

THANKS FOR YOUR COMPREHENSION AND EMPATHY

nice comment

 

[thelink]

I hope I don't lose my job after this....

 

[grefenius]

Seriously France?

French people just love to strike. In France, a 'full-time' work week is 35 hours and companies are required to give workers 2.5 days of paid vacation each month. That's 5 WEEKS OF PAID LEAVE EVERY YEAR.

But I guess they need those water fountains.

In Germany we typically get six weeks of paid holidays, and it doesn't seem we're doing too bad.

Your turn.

 

[Sora]

Great! Start shipping those iPhone 5s over here!

Hahahaha....I was thinking the same thing.

 

[gorskiegangsta]

are you really proud of having so many dead soldiers just to kick 3 asses ?

Three asses that slaughtered millions of civilians.

 

[pgiguere1]

oh a Canadian from Montreal, great ! you are taking part of the anti-French group too

could you please remind us all who was on strike over the last months ????

How am I anti-French?

It has nothing to do with their origin, I just think what they ask for is a bit unreasonable and it seems they want to get more benefits because Apple is very successful, and therefore would get negative press attention for this kind of stuff given that people know how rich they are.

They're just playing with Apple's success and media attention, which I don't think Apple retail employees have a lot to do with.

By the way, you have the right to disagree with Quebec's student strikes, but I don't see how it invalidates what I'm saying. My first language is French, I'm a student and was against those protests.

I used to work for an Apple reseller that closed and half the employees went to work at Apple Stores. I have lots of friends (ex-coworkers) that currently work at Apple Stores and are more than happy to work there. The salary and benefits are already better than almost all retail stores of that type. I don't think they should get paid a lot more because Apple makes more money by square foot, they're still doing mostly the same job as any retail electronics employee who don't get that kind of benefits.

 

[marksman]

guys,

yes free water fountain

the AC has been down for ages at the Apple Store at the Louvre, staff has been working for the last 3 years with inconsistent temperature conditions topping 40°C

try to work in these conditions before criticizing

as for meal vouchers... Opera and Louvre are locating in very expensive tourist locations of Paris

the less expensive meal would be McDonald's

unless you want to eat something else than this kind of crap, one must spend a significant amount everyday, compared to low wages given in France

People can not prepare their own lunches in France? I can assure you there are many apple stores around the world in very expensive areas.

 

[iLeoMarc]

Have you heard France to be broke? Really? you have great informants man.

Don't mind some of these individuals, they seem to bunch europeans together. Spain & Greece is probably what they are thinking of. As far as France go they have a lower debt to GDP ratio than the United States.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

this topic was designed for HATERS

True. Take your pick, there's something for everyone in this one.

 

[dbft]

France has actually prioritized quality of life, something that other countries could learn from.

Here in the US, we get hardly any vacation days, and the moment there is any spare capacity (a tiny bit less to be done than a company's employees can achieve at full speed) then BAM! pink slips.

Note here that it's not France that is going broke, it's Greece and Spain et al. And the US is not exactly booming right now.

It's all very well chuckling about Europe and suggesting as some cretin did above that they don't get anything done (hello?), but at least over there they are not running themselves ragged with two jobs just to meet payments on junk, and occasionally cracking and going postal with guns.

Hell, instead of mocking them, why don't we demand better pay and more time off with our families?

Well said. A lot of people on this thread seem to think it's virtuous to work yourself to death so the rich can get richer.

 

[sirjdub]

i have performance based bonuses. Not just for showing up.

Love and kisses,

working american

exactly