Apple is facing strong unionization efforts by retail employees in New York City, Atlanta, Maryland, and other major cities demanding higher pay, better working conditions, and other benefits.
In the midst of fighting unionization efforts by communicating the negative impact of a union on employees’ careers, the tech giant has increased the minimum wage to $22 per hour for hourly workers which is expected to benefit the retail workers.
Apple increases the minimum wage by 45% since 2018 for hourly workers, maybe to dampen the unionization efforts
According to The Wall Street Journal, the company informed the employees that the minimum wage for hourly workers has been increased to $22 and even higher in certain markets. The decision is to support its staff financially impacted by inflation, and retain talent in a tight labor market.
In a statement, an Apple spokesman said:
“Supporting and retaining the best team members in the world enables us to deliver the best, most innovative, products and services for our customers. This year as part of our annual performance review process, we’re increasing our overall compensation budget.”
It can be presumed that the tech giant was motivated to increase the minimum hourly wage by 45% from 2018 to curb unionization efforts. The tech giant has been using various tactics to discourage employees from voting in favor of unionization.
After providing talking points to store managers, Apple’s Head of Retail Deirdre O’Brien reiterated the same points in a video message to retail store employees. According to Bloomberg, O’Brien said:
“We have a relationship that is based on an open and collaborative and direct engagement, which I feel could fundamentally change if a store is represented by a union under a collective bargaining agreement,” she said. “And I worry about what it would mean to put another organization in the middle of our relationship. An organization that doesn’t have a deep understanding of Apple or our business, and most importantly, one that I do not believe shares our commitment to you.”
