Around 150 Apple retail employees will stop work for one hour on Tuesday as part of a dispute over a new enterprise agreement that will slash real wages. Following the strike, workers will carry out a set of limited work bans for an indefinite period.

While workers across Australia will take part in the industrial action, the main impact will be at two stores in Brisbane and one in Newcastle, where the Retail and Fast Food Workers’ Union (RAFFWU) has the greatest coverage over Apple workers.

Most of the company’s almost 4,000 Australian employees will not take part in the stoppages or bans, although they are covered by the same agreement, as the Australian Services Union (ASU) and Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) have refused to call for industrial action.

In addition, many workers are prohibited from striking as they are not members of any of the three unions—35 non-union bargaining representatives are involved in the negotiations. Under Australia’s harsh industrial relations laws, only workers who are members of a registered union are allowed to strike.

Apple is offering workers annual pay “increases” of just 2.6 percent, a massive wage cut in real terms. This paltry wage bump will only be given to workers who are currently receiving the minimum rate for their classification, which has been frozen since the last enterprise agreement expired in 2018. According to the ASU, this means 75 percent of Apple retail employees will get nothing at all.

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