Apple still being accused of ‘vicious anti-union’ campaign

At the start of the year Apple agreed to let its board of directors to oversee an independent audit of its US labor practices after five investors with $7 billion in company stock raised concerns about the unfair treatment of workers trying to unionize. 

Now workers at two Apple Stores wrote to the company’s board claiming that Apple may be unfairly skewing the audit, by excluding workers at stores that have unionized, according to Wired. A report on the audit is due to be published by the end of the year.

In January the tech giant said in a federal filing that it would assess its compliance with its official human rights policy. This came after US labor board prosecutors determined that Apple violated federal law by interrogating and coercing employees in Atlanta in December 2022. The National Labor Relations Board’s Atlanta regional director also concluded that Apple held mandatory anti-union meetings during which management made coercive statements.

Workers at a string of US Apple Stores have begun unionizing in recent years. The investors who originally called for the audit argued it was needed because of reports that Apple was trampling on workers’ right to organize. 

“We continue to endure a vicious anti-union campaign from Apple,” the letter sent today says — as noted by Wired.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which represent the employees, say that they aren’t aware of any outreach to workers at stores in the process of organizing unions either.