Apple retail union organizers want workers to be paid at least $30 per hour
CNBCMAR 16 2022
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.