Oz Apple Store staff vote to strike for better pay, settled rosters, clean shirts

The union representing Apple Store workers in Australia has called a strike as part of ongoing negotiations for a new pay and conditions deal. The strike, agreed to yesterday by members of the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU), will see some staff at Australian Apple Stores stop work for an hour on October 18. Union …

[Tim99]

Award Rates

Australia has legislated/agreed basic award rates for many employees. The Union’s claim is for a bit more than the award, which seems reasonable. The laundry allowance per shift is $0.25 more than the award - To put that in perspective the standard price for a decent takeaway coffee in Sydney is ~$4.00.

[AMBxx]

Re: Award Rates

Retail workers wanting home working is a bit of an odd one.

[43300]

Re: Award Rates

Yes, quite - most of their demands seem reasonable but it's unclear how people who work in a shop can work from home for the equivalent of two weeks a year. The job involves interacting with customers, and it would be ureasonable to expect any employer to set up remote access arrangements of one type or another for a period that short.

[sreynolds]

Re: Award Rates

"Australia has legislated/agreed basic award rates for many employees. The Union’s claim is for a bit more than the award, which seems reasonable. The laundry allowance per shift is $0.25 more than the award - To put that in perspective the standard price for a decent takeaway coffee in Sydney is ~$4.00."

There is no decent coffee in Sydney.

[Tim99]

Re: Award Rates

An element of truth, Perth and Melbourne are better...

[the Jim bloke]

One of the key distinguishing features of the original Reg

.. was that Apple was not on speaking terms with them.

[VoiceOfTruth]

Union names

-> Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU)

I bet that Apple loves that, its staff being equated or represented with burger flippers. May I offer a few new union names suitable for Apple:

The Venerable Association of Genius Bar Geniuses and Ancillary Staff.

The Upgrader Offerers and It Cannot Be Fixed Babblers Confederation.

The Think Different You're Holding it Wrong Brotherhood and Sisterhood.

[Jan 0]

Fast Food!

Who knew that you could order a 'roo bap in a down under Apple Store?

[Anonymous Coward]

The union demands seem quite reasonable

The only one I'd question is the WFH, as retail workers typically can't. Otherwise, this all seems quite sensible to ask for.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: The union demands seem quite reasonable

I also think that "and pay rises at either five percent annually or 2.5 percent more than the rate of inflation, whichever is higher." is a tad unreasonable since that sounds like an "in perpetuity" demand to me. Or are they currently so poorly paid they desperately need annual above inflation pay rises just to get a decent wage?

Some of the demands strike me as being disposable, ie it's the start of negotiations and you always ask for more than you expect so you can negotiate down to what you really want and both sides can say they "won".

[aerogems]

Once upon a time

I worked at a fast food place and they expected us to launder uniforms at our own expense, so I just never did. IMO, there's nothing unreasonable about expecting the employer to provide a uniform at their expense if they expect you to wear a uniform. Paying to launder those uniforms also seems completely reasonable.