Unionized Maryland Apple Store Workers Request 10% Raise and Option to Accept Customer Tips

[snak-atak]

Imagine you buy a brand new Apple Product at an Apple Store and an Apple Specialist hits you with this...

There will never be a day I'm ever going to be tipping at an Apple Store.

Paying a 20% tip on a premium product is insane! Even 3% for them to bag a $3,000 MacBook for me is almost an additional $100. They may say that tipping is always optional, but if any salesman gets a whiff that I'm buying a 'small' product or am coming for a repair under warranty or I don't plan to tip as well as the guy next to me, I'll get no service whatsoever!

 

[SSDGUY]

Finally a use for the Trash Can Mac Pros: Tip jars!

 

[Analog Kid]

Tips... Of all the demands, that's the one furthest from the Apple brand. Doesn't have a chance in hell.

Or Apple could make the tips an opt-out on the receipt and watch the business at that store fall to nothing so they can close it down.

 

[ersan191]

Tip culture is cancerous, god America does some really stupid backwards things sometimes.

 

[snak-atak]

Thank you Maryland Store for bringing some life to this forum. Nothing like employee tips and 6 weeks of bereavement time to get the blood boiling. If I didn't know better, I'd say MR made this story up just to get us all talking until WWDC arrives.

 

[GizmoDVD]

Maybe I don't understand Australia, but any reputable union in the USA doesn't start negotiations like this. No one in retail gets paid double-time right on hour 41. Time-and-half is the standard unless it's peak season. Likewise, tips are reserved for service industries such as restaurants, hotels, hospitality, and other personal services and not retail.

And when you start to muddle tips and commissions with product sales, it gets messy real quickly. It'll turn into a car dealership in no time with the salesmen hawking at the front door. They'll walk around with you, sure. Then they'll offer you a 'test drive' on one of their premium maxed out iPhone Pro Max. Or they'll even tell you that you NEED a custom MacBook Pro when you only came for a basic Air model. They'll even hold your phone for you while you try out the new one, but they'll hold it hostage until you commit to a new purchase. And once you make your purchase, they'll move on to the next victim without any post-purchase customer service that they are known to provide today. And don't even ask about coming in for warranty repairs or a 'small' purchase such as AirPods. None of the salesmen will want to even look at you!

I just wonder if it was a random apple employee at the store that drafted this demand letter or an actual union employee because wow, it's embarrassing if it was a Union member. There is no way Apple would agree to these, and some of are so absurd, it'd an instant throw away. 8 months of severance for a layoff from a cashier? WHAT?

 

[neuropsychguy]

1. 10% higher pay -- Okay
2. Allow tips -- No way, not as the proposal states. Being able to accept a cash tip on occasion might be okay.
3. Double pay for employees who work more than eight hours per day -- No
4. Double pay for more than 40 hours a week -- 1.5X should be appropriate but okay
5. More pay for employees working overtime on weekends -- more than the 2X they are asking for? No way.
6. Higher pay over a larger number of holidays -- Uh, what does this mean?
7. $1 an hour increase for workers who become first-aid certified -- is giving first-aid a weekly occurrence? If so, then sure. If not, then why? This seems a little odd.
8. Up to 34 weeks of severance pay for layoffs -- sure "up to". 1-2 weeks per year of work is fairly typical so anything more than that is a huge ask. So, "up to" 34 is fine as long as that's for people who've worked there for 17+ years.
9. Extended paid bereavement leave up to 45 days per year -- eh, this is really pushing it, to put it mildly. This is 9 weeks per year, paid! Seriously?
10. Pets and close friends to be included under the allowed time off for bereavement -- uh, no (I love my pets and close friends but "up to 45 days per year" to bereave the death of a pet or close friend?)
11. Expanded vacation pay -- this would need clarification.

I'm not anti-union and often pro-union but most of these demands are ridiculous. I know this is a starting point but it sounds like it’s coming from people without much real world business experience. I don’t have any either (I’m in academia) but I have enough understanding of the business world to know that most of these are untenable.

 

[Analog Kid]

I'm sure Apple is behind it. After all, if customers start subsidizing wages (by tipping), Apple saves money by not having to pay as much in wages.

So the problem with unions is that it gives the company too much negotiating power?

 

[azentropy]

We need to be phasing tipping out of our society, not increasing it.

A bit off topic, but it was something that in the back of my mind we should have used the pandemic to adjust to moving away from a tipping society since many of the service industries were shut down and needed to be restaffed/restarted anyway. Instead it became much much worse.

 

[maxfromdenmark]

It looks like greed in its finest. I don’t mind to tip a waitress for taking care with my table but a big no for tipping salesman or even for passing me on with a cup of coffee in Starbucks.
It’s insane!

 

[GermanSuplex]

Unionize? Sure, we can debate it, but I have no problem with it.

Tipping? I hate it. Restaurants is one thing, but I swear, it’s insane now. It’s everywhere.

It also can create hostility amongst co-workers.

 

[aParkerMusic]

Paying a 20% tip on a premium product is insane! Even 3% for them to bag a $3,000 MacBook for me is almost an additional $100. They may say that tipping is always optional, but if any salesman gets a whiff that I'm buying a 'small' product or am coming for a repair under warranty or I don't plan to tip as well as the guy next to me, I'll get no service whatsoever!

The type of tipping they’re talking about is not the type of tipping you see at restaurants (traditionally percentage-based). They’re talking about someone giving the salesperson a few bucks because they did a really nice job. They’re not talking about a $200 tip for a $1000 phone purchase lol. Why does everyone keep thinking this?

 

[antiprotest]

Imagine you buy a brand new Apple Product at an Apple Store and an Apple Specialist hits you with this...

There will never be a day I'm ever going to be tipping at an Apple Store.

It is possible that all this push for tipping might end up being a good thing. Eventually we might reach a breaking point where there will be a tremendous backlash against all tipping in general, everywhere, from everyone.

From the looks of things, such as the many discussions coming out about "tipping fatigue," we are heading toward that direction, although we are not there yet.

Personally, I have tipped less and less precisely because people are asking more and more. I have become much more comfortable hitting that "no tip" button. And I think many people are too.

For too long, how much you tip has become a reflection on the character of the customer, not the service of the worker. But we are getting closer to a point where customers will stop caring what people think.

For instance, people on here can "dislike" what I say or reply to lecture me. Or someone can give me a dirty look when I don't tip. You know what? I don't care. I used to care a little. But all this push for tipping has desensitized me to that.

Call me a jerk? Stingy? No sympathy for people not being paid enough? I don't care. I don't even care to disagree or defend myself. Let me be a jerk. Call me a horrible person. I never claimed to be a moral example.

Why don't I care? Those of you who keep pushing tipping harder and harder have made me stop caring. You have pushed too hard, too fast, and too far, and it broke something. It is backfiring big time, and this effect is growing.

 

[neuropsychguy]

You taking your stand is not going to get that service staff paid even regular minimum wage.

Restaurants have to pay minimum wage if restaurant minimum + tips < state/federal minimum wage. If people stopped tipping, it wouldn't take long for servers to demand higher wages from the restaurant owners or quit and find a different job.

 

[mrat93]

Why is everybody up in arms about this? Nobody is forcing you to tip. I do think that requesting a percentage of a huge purchase is a little much, but what if it were $1, $3, and enter-your-own?

Ok ok I changed my mind. My comment below still stands.

——
Are Apple employees allowed to accept cash tips? I used to work retail and occasionally somebody would try to tip me, which wasn’t allowed by the company.

If they’re are supposed to refuse tips, then I think that should be changed.

 

[SFjohn]

Imagine tipping an Apple Store Employee because they SMILED at you.

Well it would kind of depend on how hot and sexy they are, and how long they smiled at me. I’ve done it before at a Starbucks… 😉

 

[neuropsychguy]

Why is everybody up in arms about this? Nobody is forcing you to tip. I do think that requesting a percentage of a huge purchase is a little much, but what if it were $1, $3, and enter-your-own?

Are Apple employees allowed to accept cash tips? I used to work retail and occasionally somebody would try to tip me, which wasn’t allowed by the company.

If they’re are supposed to refuse tips, then I think that should be changed.

It's the principle of it. Tipping culture in the U.S. is going in the wrong direction. It should generally be dying out, not increasing. Pay people more and don't expect/require tipping. There's a difference between allowing people to accept tips as an expression of gratitude and switching more compensation of employees to tips. This proposal by the store union goes well beyond allowing random "thank you" tips to built-in % tips, even if those tips are just suggestions.

 

[dmr727]

I'm a union member and I'm happy that I am. You earn what you negotiate, and I certainly don't begrudge employees trying to wring as much as possible out of management, just as I don't begrudge management for trying to get as much per dollar as they can out of their employees. Apple isn't a mom and pop shop - all of this is just business.

That said, you've gotta read the room. There are a lot of ways to get paid, but asking to hold out a tip jar at a premium retailer like Apple is just friggin' dumb.

 

[sorgo †]

What the hell is going on

Clownworld. Honk honk

 

[cupcakes2000]

Almost everywhere else outside of the US, tips are just given as a ‘thank you’ for a good service. Nothing wrong with the option. The US is pretty much unique in the western world where a (forced) tip is an excuse for a business to pay someone less. It’s just not allowed normally.

Most times , when I sit and have my coffee which may cost 2€50, and the waiter is friendly, I give 3€. Why not? They still get paid a normal amount of money and benefits as a salary. I feel like thanking them for making me smile if they did. All good.

Some here just have a warped view of some stuff, it’s mainly because of the fact it’s extremely US centric - in other parts of the world we get paid normally to do our job, including good benefits, (sometimes down to a union that’s helped negotiate it btw), and if the service is extra special, we may leave a tip. As you can see - in this situation there is no need for an uproar.

 

[GizmoDVD]

Why is everybody up in arms about this? Nobody is forcing you to tip. I do think that requesting a percentage of a huge purchase is a little much, but what if it were $1, $3, and enter-your-own?

Are Apple employees allowed to accept cash tips? I used to work retail and occasionally somebody would try to tip me, which wasn’t allowed by the company.

If they’re are supposed to refuse tips, then I think that should be changed.

"Hey, I'll tip you an extra $40 if you can help get this iPhone slightly out of warranty fixed for free"
"Ok!" - Apple employee

There is a reason why tips are not allowed. A not so good Apple employee could use that in a negotiating tactic to get warranty serviced approved etc.

 

[Eorlas]

LOL.

Tip for what? Do you tip at Best Buy? Target?

Like everything else, don't fall for social pressure and tip $0.

sometimes people elect to tip because they want to praise good service above what the employer offers. while i agree they instituting a tip option directly into the purchasing process is not an idea they should agree to, apple should agree to allow them to accept tips.

i've certainly wanted to do it once or twice for an associate that really worked hard to take care of me, and people may or may not know that they have to turn those tips in to the store manager. they are not given them, and they *will* get in serious trouble if they try to pocket it (so i've been told.)

apple *should not* institute a policy of confiscating tips. any of the potential downsides are less heinous than the company taking money it is not entitled to.

tl;dr tipping function during check out, yeah no. allowing employees to accept tips given directly by the customer should be a no brainer.

 

[jjudson]

Then order online like everybody else.

Don’t give Amazon any ideas…

I can see it now, on checkout, “Would you like to leave a tip?”

“No”

Package arrives three weeks late and looks as though it’s been run over by steam shovel…

 

[SFjohn]

Hey, it’s just the starting “ask” from the union, I’m sure they’re not expecting to get everything. Why not ask for the moon knowing you’ll be setting for a pay raise & some extra time off in the end… if they’re lucky. 🤷

 

[seek3r]

But if you cat dies, don't need a few days off, ya know, paid time off?

That's what they are also asking for. Apple should close this location down.

When my dog passes I will absolutely be taking at least a couple days, probably a week honestly, of PTO. I’ll be a wreck and not in any condition to be good choice to touch production systems and I know it. I’m lucky enough that at my job, and any likely future job I move to in my end of things, I get lots of PTO, so I dont need extra for that, but most folks arent so lucky, so I get it