Apple Store Employee Seeks To Plant Union Seed

[meganmonkey]

(on edit, not sure if this qualifies as 'Worker's Action' yet but this seems like the place to put it..)

Apple Store Employee Seeks To Plant Union Seed

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - An Apple Inc store employee has started a union in a rare move at a company known for its near-fanatical following and cutting-edge mystique.

Cory Moll, a part-time employee at an Apple store in San Francisco, is working to form a union to fight for better wages and benefits and to address what he says are unfair practices in the company's glass-and-steel retail showrooms.

"The core issues definitely involve compensation, pay, benefits," Moll said, adding that he decided to go public with the union to encourage other employees to come forward.

While unions are strong in industries like trucking and autos, they are largely unheard of in Silicon Valley companies, which pride themselves on being quick-footed and having the flexibility to hire and fire.

Moll's budding campaign is also unusual given Apple's reputation for fierce employee loyalty.

Apple has more than 30,000 retail employees in its 325 stores around the world.

Moll, who has been working at Apple for four years, said he makes $14 an hour at the San Francisco Apple store. The minimum wage for 2011 in San Francisco, one of the most expensive cities in the United States, is $9.92 an hour.

The 30-year-old employee primarily communicates with other Apple store employees through Twitter, Facebook and the "Apple Retail Workers Union" website, which he created in May, without disclosing his name.

Moll has received little public support from employees so far, though he said he has emails expressing support.

An Apple representative confirmed Moll is an employee, but declined to comment on the union effort.

"It's kind of a feeling of David versus Goliath," Moll said of trying to start a union movement in a $320 billion company run by its iconic co-founder, Steve Jobs.

The would-be Apple union's website is sparse, but states: "At Apple, our most important resource, our soul, is our people. Our Time Has Come."

Union members as a percentage of U.S. wage and salary workers declined from 20.1 percent in 1983 to 11.9 percent last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Moll said the movement is only in its infancy.

"There's definitely no call to action yet," he said. "Right now what I hope to gain is to get people to start talking about it and get comfortable with it."



http://www.chicagotribune.com/Busine...,6882502.story

[Sadena Meti]

Union members as a percentage of U.S. wage and salary workers declined from 20.1 percent in 1983 to 11.9 percent last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This statistic is even more depressing if you project farther back. I once looked it up in an almanac, and I can't remember if it was pre-World War Two or post, but union membership was in the 40-45% range.

[TBF]

The propaganda against unions has been very effective in this country. My brother and I grew up with my dad in a union. I was a little older and remember painting strike signs with him, etc... My brother was a little younger and doesn't remember that as clearly. Somehow I grew up very pro-labor, but he makes comments about unions "going too far". I ask him if he thinks CEO salaries have "gone too far" and he agrees but still has this idea that somehow unions asked for "too much". I think it's very pervasive in our society, which is scary because with the number of minimum wage jobs these days you'd think people would be organizing like crazy.

[Nikos]

The propaganda against unions has been very effective in this country. My brother and I grew up with my dad in a union. I was a little older and remember painting strike signs with him, etc... My brother was a little younger and doesn't remember that as clearly. Somehow I grew up very pro-labor, but he makes comments about unions "going too far". I ask him if he thinks CEO salaries have "gone too far" and he agrees but still has this idea that somehow unions asked for "too much". I think it's very pervasive in our society, which is scary because with the number of minimum wage jobs these days you'd think people would be organizing like crazy.

How did this happen, TBF? I always had the impression that they used the financial crisis of the 70's to badmouth the unions and to present it as the outcome of the "greed" of the workers. Is my impression right? I quess that american people must have been exposed to a huge anti-union propaganda for many years in order for a bad name for unions to be created. Here in Europe some of the strikes organized by the unions during the 80's are quite famous, like the one from air traffic controllers...

[starry messenger]

The propaganda against unions has been very effective in this country. My brother and I grew up with my dad in a union. I was a little older and remember painting strike signs with him, etc... My brother was a little younger and doesn't remember that as clearly. Somehow I grew up very pro-labor, but he makes comments about unions "going too far". I ask him if he thinks CEO salaries have "gone too far" and he agrees but still has this idea that somehow unions asked for "too much". I think it's very pervasive in our society, which is scary because with the number of minimum wage jobs these days you'd think people would be organizing like crazy.

My brother as well, though both of my parents hate unions, so I don't know why he and I have such differing views on them. He works in Hollywood in a non-unionized branch of entertainment construction, has been subject to being laid off, workplace abuse, shitty working conditions and he still thinks unions are totally evil. I know that anti-union propaganda in this country is very slick and has a huge presence on the web now too, but you'd think at a certain point the lightbulb would go on and you'd think, why am I killing myself for someone else's profits?

[TBF]

How did this happen, TBF? I always had the impression that they used the financial crisis of the 70's to badmouth the unions and to present it as the outcome of the "greed" of the workers. Is my impression right? I quess that american people must have been exposed to a huge anti-union propaganda for many years in order for a bad name for unions to be created. Here in Europe some of the strikes organized by the unions during the 80's are quite famous, like the one from air traffic controllers...

I believe the propaganda in this country very strongly wedges folks against each other. They use religion to do it as well, along with the two major political parties. They've been very effective at creating a "middle class lifestyle" which entails this beautiful utopia that everyone should aspire to, but the reality is that at least 90% of the country is not earning the money to live anywhere close to that. They reinforce it in the press, tv shows, etc... If you are not attaining it then you are apparently doing something wrong on an individual level. "Individuality" is stressed very highly here and that feeds into it. The myth is that if you work hard you can attain anything, which of course is false because with the exception of a few here and there, most who grow up without money are not going to have the educational experiences and opportunities to reach the upper professional classes, never mind competing with the families who have inherited wealth. It's been a facade for a long time, but taxation rates made the dream more believable back in the mid 1900's. Now with the austerity measures being pushed through they are even pulling down that facade.

[hb]

I think your impression is correct, but more for the first reagan recession.

How did this happen, TBF? I always had the impression that they used the financial crisis of the 70's to badmouth the unions and to present it as the outcome of the "greed" of the workers. Is my impression right? I quess that american people must have been exposed to a huge anti-union propaganda for many years in order for a bad name for unions to be created. Here in Europe some of the strikes organized by the unions during the 80's are quite famous, like the one from air traffic controllers...