The union supporters trying to organize workers at an Apple Inc. retail store for the first time aren’t calling for a revolution. They’re not bashing CEO Tim Cook. They’re not picketing in the streets.
Instead, they’ve reined in the rhetoric used in organizing efforts at Starbucks Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. in favor of a cool-headed, geeky pitch that’s careful not to offend workers’ devotion to the Apple brand and its products. The first major test will come Saturday, when ballots in a campaign headed by the International Association of Machinists are counted at Apple’s Towson, Md., store.
The approach has already proved difficult elsewhere: An Apple Store in Atlanta was set to be first to have a union election before workers last month pulled their petition, in the face of an intense campaign from the company.
“We need to recalibrate our strategies to meet the moment, and meet workers where they are,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler told reporters June 12. “The organizing approaches of the past won’t appeal to an Apple worker. But if you think about the common denominator, it’s this baseline of respect and dignity and the shared values that bring people to the table, along with pay and benefits.”
The union’s challenges start with a corporate culture at Apple that emphasizes trust and avoidance of conflict with coworkers. And as retail...
Russia's Defense Ministry is reporting alleged battlefield successes on Max, but some of its claims lack evidence. Even Russian military bloggers are questioning claims that Ukrainian forces have ...