Unions have criticized Apple for pressuring workers into signing a “un-Australian” labor agreement that might result in up to 60-hour work weeks.
Apple has been charged for obstructing union interaction with employees over pay talks, according to the Australian Services Union (ASU) and the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA).
On Friday, union leaders will claim that Apple has violated the rules of good faith negotiation in a hearing before the Fair Work Commission.
They claim that the internet giant is “illegally” pressuring workers into signing a new business agreement since it refused to extend the time for employee discussions.
Employees were just made aware of the arrangement on August 3, according to union leaders, which has been criticized as “substandard” and “un-Australian.”
They will claim that the tech giant turned down their request to prolong worker consultation until August 19, but Apple denies imposing any deadlines.
Employees will be paid a minimum of $54,617 or $27.64 an hour under the new deal, and they will perform 60-hour work weeks without receiving any overtime pay.
Only those who work more than 76 hours in a fortnight, omitting the evening rates for work from 6 pm to 10 pm, would be eligible for overtime pay.
Given the skyrocketing loan rates, the accord calls for a 2.5% salary rise, which unions have blasted as a pay drop.
The Australian Services Unions’ assistant national secretary, Emeline Gaske, predicted that younger workers will be required to take up the burden.
She denounced the planned arrangement as unfair and said that it would provide the IT company, which employs 4,000 people nationwide in Australia, excessive influence.
According to Ms. Gaske, “Apple’s proposed deal could be illegal, and their efforts to rush through a poor arrangement that would leave largely young employees working up to 60 hours without overtime are unethical.”
Apple’s actions demonstrate clearly what is wrong with Australia’s system for negotiating wages and working conditions for employees, which gives companies an excessive amount of power.
Apple stated in a statement that it had not “set any timeframes” for salary talks and that a new enterprise agreement will be formed in the first few days of August.
A spokeswoman said, “We will continue to conduct frequent meetings to exchange and encourage input.”
We are happy to provide extremely high pay for our employees around the nation, including yearly stock grants, in order to support and keep the finest team members and develop new products and services.
We welcomed the chance for involvement and interaction with our team members when we first announced our desire to develop a new enterprise agreement in early August.
We will continue to conduct frequent meetings to exchange information and welcome criticism, and Apple has said that it has not imposed any timelines throughout this process.
Apple workers should get salary increases, according to SDA national secretary Gerard Dwyer, in light of the record-breaking inflation rates and growing cost of living.
“Its behavior is just plain un-Australian,” he added, “especially for a firm that generates at least $11 billion in profits yearly from its Australian operations.”
Mr. Dwyer expressed his “quite confident” belief that Apple was not engaging in good faith negotiation with the Fair Work Commission.
It occurs as the Jobs and Skills Summit, which will address economic difficulties and talent shortages over many days next week, is getting ready to start.
All Premiers and Chief Ministers will attend the summit, which will take place in Canberra and include discussions between unions, corporations, the government, and industry.