Apple Attempts to Keep Stores from Unionizing by Conducting Anti-Union Meetings

Apple has reportedly held meetings for its retail workers in the US to discuss the risk of unionization and provide a planned update on bargaining between the company and its first unionized store, located in Townson, Maryland.

Anti-Union Meetings

Apple is pushing its efforts to prevent its employees against unionizing, as the company has reportedly conducted anti-union meetings at all of its 270 stores across the United States. Engadget reported that managers opened the meeting by having a prepared statement that came from the corporate side of the company.

Meetings were held during gatherings called Daily Downloads, which followed a slight pause at Apple. By looking at the happenings between the company, this effort appears to be working as only two retail stores (Towson & Maryland) have unionized and some workers already walked back their efforts to push unionizing.

Criticizing Union Dues and Processes

Aside from the prepared message issued by the corporate side of the company, management used the state of the Towson retail store as a "cautionary tale" that some of its employees saw as a tactic to scare them with factual information. Adding to this, managers criticized the union dues and processes.

The company said that the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers requested dues that amount to 1.5% of the Towson workers to represent them. Based on the union proposals, this amount of money could quickly add up over time and employees who will not comply with the payment could be terminated within a month.

Despite not literally saying it, Apple gave a message to the company's tens of thousands of retail employees that if their store unionizes, they may be at a disadvantage and described the scenario as "pouring cold water on the idea." They ended the statement by having the right to vote and the meeting's purpose is for them to be fully informed.

Bloomberg reported that the Towson store already prioritized its full-time employees rather than part-timers for taking weekend days off. Managers argued that unions could make changes without employee permission, reflecting to the comments from Apple Retail Chief Deirdre O'Brien.

Managers also warned their employees regarding authorization card signatures as it does not automatically gather more details regarding unionization. Apple said, "Signing an authorization card means that you're authorizing the union to speak on your behalf and it means that you want the union to be your exclusive representative."

Last year, Apple underwent a similar circumstance as it looked into methods how to prevent its employees and workers from unionizing, including giving scripts to managers that contain guides and phrases that will help them control their employees in stores.