Before launch of iPhone 15, Apple France store workers call for strike

Robert Besser
23 Sep 2023, 19:30 GMT+10

Amid the imminent launch of the iPhone 15, unions representing Apple store workers in France have called for a strike to demand higher pay and better working conditions
To compensate for inflation, unions representing Apple workers have demanded a seven percent wage rise and an end to a months-long hiring freeze
Union officials said Apple's management has refused to offer more than a 4.5 percent hike

PARIS, France: Amid the imminent launch of the iPhone 15, unions representing Apple store workers in France have called for a strike to demand higher pay and better working conditions.

To compensate for inflation, unions representing Apple workers, including CGT, Unsa, CFDT, and Cidre-CFTC, have demanded a seven percent wage rise and an end to a months-long hiring freeze.

Union officials said Apple's management has refused to offer more than a 4.5 percent hike.

Apple France has not responded to a request for comment on the potential strike.

In a statement, CGT Apple Retail said, "Management having decided to ignore our perfectly legitimate demands and concerns, the four unions of Apple Retail France call for a strike on September 22 and 23."

The union added that representatives of Apple France's corporate division and its Barcelona team in Spain also called for a strike.

The unions called on workers to demonstrate on September 22 morning at Opera Garnier, next to Apple's flagship Paris store.

The call for a strike had been sent to Apple's 20 French stores, including nine stores in the Paris region, with three being in central Paris and two in Lyon, as well as in Marseille, Lille and Strasbourg, the CGT Apple Retail union said.

"On September 19, we had a teleconference meeting with Apple's European bosses. They basically said 'you are doing pretty well, do not complain'," the CGT official said.