Apple has reportedly enlisted the help of attorneys at Littler Mendelson as retail workers in Atlanta, Georgia build up their unionizing efforts. While the tech giant hasn’t issued a public stance regarding the workers’ efforts to unionize, Apple’s decision to align itself with a firm such as Littler Mendleson sends a strong message to retail employees. In the past, Littler Mendelson has worked with Starbucks and McDonald’s to oppose workers’ rights efforts. Now, there’s a possibility that it will help Apple do the same.
“By retaining the notorious union busting firm Littler Mendelson, Apple’s management is showing that they intend to try to prevent their employees from exercising their right to join a union by running the same playbook as other large corporations,” Communications Workers of America Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens told The Verge.
Much like Amazon, unionizing efforts at Apple have rapidly increased within the last few months. According to a report from The Verge, Apple retail workers at the Cumberland Mall filed for a union election last week. The efforts of Apple workers at Cumberland Mall have since set off a “firestorm” of unionizing efforts at Apple locations across America. Retail workers at locations across America are pushing for increased communication between the company and employees as well as transparent pay scales.
“From the start I’ve thought unionization was a good thing,” an unidentified Apple employee told The Verge.
“Pay is so unequal at the stores — there are people who’ve been in roles for less time making more than people who’ve worked in those same roles for years. They position themselves as a company that’s open to feedback but nobody acts on it. With a union backing the employees, they’ll be more pressure on them to actually act on it.”
