Apple employees slam new enterprise agreement as ‘un-Australian’ as unions take tech giant to court

Unions have slammed Apple for rushing staff into an ‘un-Australian’ workplace agreement which could see employees work up to 60 hour weeks. 

The Australian Services Union (ASU) and the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) have accused Apple of blocking union consultation with workers over wage negotiations. 

Union representatives will allege in the Fair Work Commission on Friday that Apple have breached good faith bargaining principles. 

They claim the tech giant refused to extend the deadline for consultations with staff and are ‘unlawfully’ rushing employees into a new enterprise agreement. 

Union representatives will argue employees were only made aware of the agreement on August 3 – which has been blasted as ‘substandard’ and ‘un-Australian’. 

They will allege the tech giant refused their request to extend consultation with staff members until August 19, however Apple denies setting any deadlines. 

Under the new agreement, employees will be paid $27.64 an hour or a minimum of $54,617 and work 60 hour work weeks without any overtime. 

Workers would only be granted overtime if they clock more than 76 hours a fortnight excluding the award’s evening rates for work from 6pm to 10pm. 

The agreement would see a wage increase of 2.5 per cent which unions have slammed as a pay cut given ballooning interest rates. 

Union representatives will allege in the Fair Work Commission on Friday that Apple have breached good faith bargaining principles (pictured, an Apple store in Sydney)

Emeline Gaske, the assistant national secretary of the Australian Services Unions, said it would be younger employees who would be forced to pick up the slack. 

She slammed the proposed agreement as unjust and said it would give the tech giant, which has 4,000 staff Australia-wide, too much power. 

‘The proposed agreement from Apple may be unlawful and its attempts to ram through a substandard agreement that would leave mostly young people working up to 60 hours without overtime is unethical,’ Ms Gaske said. 

‘Apple’s actions show us exactly what is wrong with the process of negotiating pay and conditions for workers in Australia, which is giving employers too much power.’

In a statement, Apple denied it had ‘set any deadlines’ for wage consultations and said their intention to form a new enterprise agreement in early August. 

Union representatives have blasted the agreement as ‘substandard’ and ‘un-Australian’ (pictured, an Apple store in Sydney)

‘We will continue to hold regular meetings to share and encourage feedback,’ a spokesperson said. 

‘Supporting and retaining the best team members enables us to deliver innovative products and services, and we are pleased to offer very strong compensation for our teams across the country, including annual stock grants.

‘We announced our intention to form a new enterprise agreement in early August, and we welcome the opportunity for participation and engagement with our team members.

‘Throughout this process Apple has not set any deadlines and we will continue to hold regular meetings to share and encourage feedback.’

 In a statement, Apple denied it had ‘set any deadlines’ for wage consultations and said their intention to form a new enterprise agreement in early August (pictured, Apple in Sydney)

SDA national secretary Gerard Dwyer said Apple employees were entitled to pay rises in keeping record-high inflation rates and the rising cost of living. 

‘For a company that is making at least $11 billion in profits annually from its Australian operations, its behaviour is simply un-Australian,’ he said. 

Mr Dwyer said he was ‘very confident’ the Fair Work Commission would find that Apple was not bargaining in good faith. 

It comes as the Jobs and Skills Summit will be held over several days next week to address economic challenges and skill shortages. 

The summit will host talks between unions, businesses, government and industry in Canberra with all Premiers and Chief Ministers to attend.