Apple has landed itself in hot water once again over union-busting claims alleged by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). A fresh complaint has been filed against Apple this week, following a series of three prior convictions for illegal union-busting by the consumer tech firm.
Apple is accused of deliberately withholding employee benefits in an attempt to influence a unionization vote.
It's not the first time Apple has clashed with union-organizing attempts, having fallen foul of the NLRB before.
Apple Workers are Unionizing
A unionization movement at Apple, the world’s most valuable company, is being blocked. After the Towson, Maryland store, the first branch to unionize globally, other stores started to follow suit.
The complaint, filed on Tuesday, details that new employee benefits were not extended to unionized workers in the Maryland store in what was a failed attempt to influence a unionization vote at another Apple branch.
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A chairperson for the National Labor Relations Board, Wilma Liebman, told Bloomberg that blocking benefits that were extended to all non-union workers could be in violation of labor law, saying it was “hard to see how they could come up with a legitimate reason for the timing other than to influence the outcome of the election.”
The attempts at union-busting failed however, as Penn Square store employees voted in favor of unionizing anyway.
Apple has until December 5 of this year to respond to the claims, a hearing is due to take place on February 20 2024.
Past Apple Union-Busting Attempts
According to the aforementioned Bloomberg report, the tech company also instructed its store managers to disseminate anti-union sentiment, such as using scare tactics to warn them of the negative consequences in relation to their wages, career opportunities and time off.
Back in June a NLRB judge ruled that Apple “coercively interrogated” employees about their feelings towards unionizing and that they did interfere with workers attempting to form a union at the World Trade Center store in New York City.
Reports claim that the union-busting tactics used included managers removing pro-union flyers from the break room and attempting to influence employees not to join unions, which led to employees giving up on their plans to form a union.
A judge ordered Apple to “cease and desist from coercively interrogating employees regarding their protected concerning activities and Union sympathies,” marking a landmark victory for Apple employees.
Earlier this year, Apple said that it is appealing this decision and have not yet made comment on the latest complaint filed this week.
