No ‘work-life balance’: Apple retail workers vote to strike

A group of Apple’s retail workers have voted to strike next week as the stoush between the unions and the tech giant over a new pay deal kicks up a notch.

Up to 150 Apple workers represented by the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) have unanimously endorsed industrial action for next Tuesday, which would mark the first nationally co-ordinated strike by retail workers in Australian history.

The action includes an hour-long stoppage across Apple stores next Tuesday, and over a dozen work-related bans. The stoppages will run in stores across the country, but are focused on three of Apple’s stores, which have the highest percentage of RAFFWU members.

Other action includes bans on using store phones, handling deliveries, repairs or installing screen protectors. Members have also agreed to an additional 24-hour ban if Apple puts forward a final deal to vote without the endorsement of the union.

RAFFWU national secretary Josh Cullinan said that its members, who make up around 150 of Apple’s 4000 Australian staff, were striking to secure a better deal.

The new pay deal, introduced by Apple early August, has been controversial after union representatives warned that it would result in a real wage cut for workers and could lead them to being rostered for 60 hours in a week without overtime.

However, Apple disputes these claims, saying that no employee will be subject to a 60-hour week and overtime would be paid to employees working more than 76 hours a fortnight. Part-time employees scheduled on short notice would also be given overtime.

“[Our part-time members] haven’t got any work-life balance, they have to be available 24/7, they get their rosters a couple of weeks in advance – but they don’t have any set shifts,” Cullinan said. “They don’t have the days they work, they can’t organise childcare. It’s casual [work], by another name – except that they don’t get the minimum wage rates of a casual worker.”