Apple Store union must negotiate to get new employee perks

AppleInsider

Apple retail's first union in Towson, MD might get the new employee benefits that Apple is said to have coming, but it must negotiate to get them in accordance with the union agreement.

Apple Towson in Maryland. Credit: Apple

The Towson Apple Store is the first to unionize, and Apple has been putting the pressure on. The company has been employing known anti-union tactics without taking a hard public stance.

According to a report from Bloomberg, sources from within Apple say that the company is set to reveal a handful of new education and medical benefits. These benefits automatically extend to all employees except the unionized store -- at least for now.

Apple Towson Town Center in Maryland voted to unionize in June with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union representing. Part of the union agreement with Apple involves a bargaining arrangement that prevents any contract changes without negotiation, including new benefit offers.

Even though the new benefits are positive and there appears to be no conditions required for them, the union representatives must adhere to the agreed bureaucratic process. After negotiations are held and an agreement is reached, the perks could be given to employees.

This may frustrate unionized employees, but such agreements are often a double-edged sword. It means Apple can't reduce benefits or negatively impact employees without notice, but it also means positive impacts can't occur at random either.

The leaked benefits include Apple pre-paying tuition for outside education instead of using a reimbursement program, a free membership to Coursera, and certain employees getting new health care plans based on location. Apple Stores in New York, Georgia, Washington, and New Jersey are expected to get the new health care plans.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment, nor has it made any of these plans public.

Read on AppleInsider

22july2013

When unions sign a contract with the employer, the agreement has a termination date, which from my experience is typically a year in the future. What is the current expiration date for the contract for the Apple Store employees in Towson? Why would Apple offer a free benefit for unionized employees prior to the next negotiated contract date? Unionized employees would normally be the last of all employees to get such a benefit. I wonder if they regret unionizing now?

ken27238

Isn’t this the whole point of unions? Title makes it seem like Apple is the bad guy but things like this need to negotiated by the Union. 

ronn

Apple would have never thought about these new benefits were it not for the unionization efforts. It's actually union-busting a tool to thwart additional locations unionizing. The Towson location will aim to have any new benefits included in a first contract. And typically, contracts are multi-year in nature. No one wants to renegotiate annually. It's a headache and takes several months to negotiate successor contracts.

lkrupp

Similar thing happened when I was working for AT&T in one of their business offices early during my time with them. The company started offering sales rewards like frozen Omaha steaks for employees who exceeded their sales goals. The union (TCEU Telephone Commercial Employees Union) shut it down as “non-negotiated compensation”. Can’t have competition among union “brothers and sisters” as it’s not the socialist way. 

madbum

Yup. You want a union, you negotiate through union and pay the union leader his cut

congrats morons 

mike wuerthele

ken27238 said:

Isn’t this the whole point of unions? Title makes it seem like Apple is the bad guy but things like this need to negotiated by the Union. 

The title in no way makes it seem like Apple is the bad guy. Bloomberg's does, though.

jfc_pa

What part of “collective bargaining” has the employees confused. This is what they voted for. 

madbum

ronn said:

Apple would have never thought about these new benefits were it not for the unionization efforts. It's actually union-busting a tool to thwart additional locations unionizing. The Towson location will aim to have any new benefits included in a first contract. And typically, contracts are multi-year in nature. No one wants to renegotiate annually. It's a headache and takes several months to negotiate successor contracts.

Wrong. The only person that wins in a union are the organizers who gets all the pork.  Union? In. This economy ? For retail workers who can be easily replaced by most high school kids who use Apple products?

so dumb

edited October 2022

foregoneconclusion

LOL at some of these comments when people don't actually know what the new benefits would consist of. Plus, non-union = company can change them in the future at will. 

22july2013

foregoneconclusion said:

Plus, non-union = company can change them in the future at will. 

You must be a "this glass is half empty" kind of guy. Always looking at the empty part of the glass.

madbum

22july2013 said:

foregoneconclusion said:

Plus, non-union = company can change them in the future at will. 

You must be a "this glass is half empty" kind of guy. Always looking at the empty part of the glass.

My 11 year old can work as an Apple genius if they let him. And so can most of his friends . So unionize away!

edited October 2022

daalseth

ken27238 said:

Isn’t this the whole point of unions? Title makes it seem like Apple is the bad guy but things like this need to negotiated by the Union. 

Exactly. A union gives the workers the power TO negotiate by the union and the company, but it also means that any change to pay or benefits MUST be negotiated by the union and the company. Like everything in life, it’s a double edged sword. The company can’t just give everyone a raise, otoh they can’t unilaterally cut everyone’s health coverage either. 

edited October 2022

madbum

foregoneconclusion said:

LOL at some of these comments when people don't actually know what the new benefits would consist of. Plus, non-union = company can change them in the future at will. 

Then you change companies . Unions cannot force stores to stay open can they? Apple can decide to do more online and just keep the best stores and close the rest. Union and non performing stores will be closed first 

foregoneconclusion

22july2013 said:

foregoneconclusion said:

Plus, non-union = company can change them in the future at will. 

You must be a "this glass is half empty" kind of guy. Always looking at the empty part of the glass.

No, I'm a "worked in corporate America" kind of guy. They can give and take benefits at will. A classic example would be 401Ks and the level of matching that companies hyped up initially versus what the typical standard is today.

madbum

foregoneconclusion said:

22july2013 said:

foregoneconclusion said:

Plus, non-union = company can change them in the future at will. 

You must be a "this glass is half empty" kind of guy. Always looking at the empty part of the glass.

No, I'm a "worked in corporate America" kind of guy. They can give and take benefits at will. A classic example would be 401Ks and the level of matching that companies hyped up initially versus what the typical standard is today.

Things never change in a union setting? There is no free lunch. Corporate?You should like you were born yesterday.

ronn

Madbum said:

ronn said:

Apple would have never thought about these new benefits were it not for the unionization efforts. It's actually union-busting a tool to thwart additional locations unionizing. The Towson location will aim to have any new benefits included in a first contract. And typically, contracts are multi-year in nature. No one wants to renegotiate annually. It's a headache and takes several months to negotiate successor contracts.

Wrong. The only person that wins in a union are the organizers who gets all the pork.  Union? In. This economy ? For retail workers who can be easily replaced by most high school kids who use Apple products?

so dumb

Bullshit. The union organizers are the workers themselves. Once the union is approved by the workers -- in this case the workers voted for the union 65-to-33 even after strong-arm tactics by Apple -- they work to get better treatment, pay and benefits for all of the workers in the unit. We know unions work because corps like Apple spend millions fighting against them. Including using illegal maneuvers as there are no real penalties for corps.

Once the process is begun, they can't just willy-nilly fire them. It's illegal. And stupid. And I very much doubt that Apple could just replace them with "high school kids who use Apple products" as the union would include genius techs, biz specialists and well experienced workers.

Apple only increased salaries after the unionization effort. Now Apple is claiming better benefits after the unionization vote win. Which they can take away at any time. If they succeeded in killing the union, there's nothing to make them keep these new and/or improved benefits. The union contract would be the only thing to guarantee benefits and procedures are followed.

madbum

DAalseth said:

ken27238 said:

Isn’t this the whole point of unions? Title makes it seem like Apple is the bad guy but things like this need to negotiated by the Union. 

Exactly. A union gives the workers the power TO negotiate by the union and the company, but it also means that any change to pay or benefits MUST be negotiated by the union and the company. Like everything in life, it’s a double edged sword. The company can’t just give everyone a raise, otoh they can’t unilaterally cut everyone’s health coverage either. 

You forgot most important part. The union organizer gets rich while the rest of the people get screwed 

edited October 2022

madbum

ronn said:

Madbum said:

ronn said:

Apple would have never thought about these new benefits were it not for the unionization efforts. It's actually union-busting a tool to thwart additional locations unionizing. The Towson location will aim to have any new benefits included in a first contract. And typically, contracts are multi-year in nature. No one wants to renegotiate annually. It's a headache and takes several months to negotiate successor contracts.

Wrong. The only person that wins in a union are the organizers who gets all the pork.  Union? In. This economy ? For retail workers who can be easily replaced by most high school kids who use Apple products?

so dumb

Bullshit. The union organizers are the workers themselves. Once the union is approved by the workers -- in this case the workers voted for the union 65-to-33 even after strong-arm tactics by Apple -- they work to get better treatment, pay and benefits for all of the workers in the unit. We know unions work because corps like Apple spend millions fighting against them. Including using illegal maneuvers as there are no real penalties for corps.

Once the process is begun, they can't just willy-nilly fire them. It's illegal. And stupid. And I very much doubt that Apple could just replace them with "high school kids who use Apple products" as the union would include genius techs, biz specialists and well experienced workers.

Apple only increased salaries after the unionization effort. Now Apple is claiming better benefits after the unionization vote win. Which they can take away at any time. If they succeeded in killing the union, there's nothing to make them keep these new and/or improved benefits. The union contract would be the only thing to guarantee benefits and procedures are followed.

Union can force Apple to keep stores open? In this economy? These are not hard to replace steel workers. These are easily replaced retail workers. How do I know?

  I got 2 kids working part time in Apple stores here in California while they going to college. And everything they are doing, my 12 year old can do.

Yes  bull shit lol

edited October 2022

ronn

Madbum said:

ronn said:

Madbum said:

ronn said:

Apple would have never thought about these new benefits were it not for the unionization efforts. It's actually union-busting a tool to thwart additional locations unionizing. The Towson location will aim to have any new benefits included in a first contract. And typically, contracts are multi-year in nature. No one wants to renegotiate annually. It's a headache and takes several months to negotiate successor contracts.

Wrong. The only person that wins in a union are the organizers who gets all the pork.  Union? In. This economy ? For retail workers who can be easily replaced by most high school kids who use Apple products?

so dumb

Bullshit. The union organizers are the workers themselves. Once the union is approved by the workers -- in this case the workers voted for the union 65-to-33 even after strong-arm tactics by Apple -- they work to get better treatment, pay and benefits for all of the workers in the unit. We know unions work because corps like Apple spend millions fighting against them. Including using illegal maneuvers as there are no real penalties for corps.

Once the process is begun, they can't just willy-nilly fire them. It's illegal. And stupid. And I very much doubt that Apple could just replace them with "high school kids who use Apple products" as the union would include genius techs, biz specialists and well experienced workers.

Apple only increased salaries after the unionization effort. Now Apple is claiming better benefits after the unionization vote win. Which they can take away at any time. If they succeeded in killing the union, there's nothing to make them keep these new and/or improved benefits. The union contract would be the only thing to guarantee benefits and procedures are followed.

Union can force Apple to keep stores open? In this economy? These are not hard to replace steel workers. These are easily replaced retail workers. How do I know?

  I got 2 kids working part time in Apple stores here in California while they going to college. And everything they are doing, my 12 year old can do.

Yes  bull shit lol

Show were I said the union can force Apple to keep stores open. They'd be stupid to close stores when a good percentage of their sales are made in them. Not to mention the goodwill and familiarity the retail locations affords Apple.

Ah, so you have two kids working for Apple. Appears you like the kool-aid flavor aid. 

And I'm sure your 12y.o. can easily replace a Genius Technician, Business Expert/Pro, or Technical Specialist. 

madbum

ronn said:

Madbum said:

ronn said:

Madbum said:

ronn said:

Apple would have never thought about these new benefits were it not for the unionization efforts. It's actually union-busting a tool to thwart additional locations unionizing. The Towson location will aim to have any new benefits included in a first contract. And typically, contracts are multi-year in nature. No one wants to renegotiate annually. It's a headache and takes several months to negotiate successor contracts.

Wrong. The only person that wins in a union are the organizers who gets all the pork.  Union? In. This economy ? For retail workers who can be easily replaced by most high school kids who use Apple products?

so dumb

Bullshit. The union organizers are the workers themselves. Once the union is approved by the workers -- in this case the workers voted for the union 65-to-33 even after strong-arm tactics by Apple -- they work to get better treatment, pay and benefits for all of the workers in the unit. We know unions work because corps like Apple spend millions fighting against them. Including using illegal maneuvers as there are no real penalties for corps.

Once the process is begun, they can't just willy-nilly fire them. It's illegal. And stupid. And I very much doubt that Apple could just replace them with "high school kids who use Apple products" as the union would include genius techs, biz specialists and well experienced workers.

Apple only increased salaries after the unionization effort. Now Apple is claiming better benefits after the unionization vote win. Which they can take away at any time. If they succeeded in killing the union, there's nothing to make them keep these new and/or improved benefits. The union contract would be the only thing to guarantee benefits and procedures are followed.

Union can force Apple to keep stores open? In this economy? These are not hard to replace steel workers. These are easily replaced retail workers. How do I know?

  I got 2 kids working part time in Apple stores here in California while they going to college. And everything they are doing, my 12 year old can do.

Yes  bull shit lol

Show were I said the union can force Apple to keep stores open. They'd be stupid to close stores when a good percentage of their sales are made in them. Not to mention the goodwill and familiarity the retail locations affords Apple.

Ah, so you have two kids working for Apple. Appears you like the kool-aid flavor aid. 

And I'm sure your 12y.o. can easily replace a Genius Technician, Business Expert/Pro, or Technical Specialist. 

What did you say that union vote tally in Towson was? Most of the Nay votes are genius technicians. Most of the yay votes are the “burger flippers” or front line retail like my kids.

my kids are working there part time while attending UCLA , flexible schedule, great retail pay, they love it .

edited October 2022