Labor starts to find a path into Big Tech
AxiosApr 19, 2022
The Coalition of Organized Retail Workers (CORE), a new union formed by Apple employees in a suburban Maryland store, has joined forces with a larger group, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, in efforts to unionize branch employees.
It's the second Apple store to file to hold an election. Employees at an Apple branch in Atlanta will hold union elections in June after more than 70% of eligible employees supported joining the Communications Workers of America union in April.
Developments in Apple and Amazon stores mark the beginning of reunionization in Big Tech. Despite 4 decades of propaganda painting unions as a danger to the innovative and flexible nature of Silicon Valley, the pandemic has led workers to take action against their "disposable" status.
Apple already offers better compensation and benefits for full-time and part-time employees than many other companies. Retail workers are paid a starting wage of $20 per hour and employees have access to perks including parental leave and stock grants. Sick days, amongst other benefits, have been expanded in response to the pandemic.
While the rights of US workers are important, Apple employees in China are the ones really suffering at the hands of the company. People on the assembly lines in Longhua face gruelling and aggressive conditions that have led to a widely reported epidemic of suicides. More attention must be paid to the dehumanizing of Apple workers outside the US.