Apple store workers in Barcelona, Spain, will go on strike two days before Christmas amid Apple’s holiday shopping season demanding higher wages, meal shifts, and more, a union representing the employees has announced.
The strike will involve Apple store workers at its Passeig de Gràcia store in Barcelona on December 23, but it’s unclear how many workers will participate. Apple Passeig de Gràcia is one of two Apple retail locations in Barcelona, and any major disruptions to the store could impact last-minute holiday shoppers.
The strike will last 24 hours, according to the union group, but notes that employees may “decide the duration of their strike.” According to a machine translation of the union group’s website (via AppleInsider), the demands include bonuses, more flexibility with scheduling, and meal shifts on a weekly rotation. Here’s a full list of the demands being made by the union group:
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- Bonus and voluntariness on Sundays and holidays
- Fixed in/out/meal shifts with weekly rotation.
- Monthly delivery of schedules maintaining 3 months in advance
CGT calls its demands “totally legitimate,” reassuring employees eager to go on strike that Apple “cannot take any retaliation against those who participate.” Despite the reassurance from the group, employees may be hesitant given the precedent set by Apple in its actions in the United States.
In unionization efforts in the US, Apple has been accused of deploying anti-union and anti-strike measures, including “retaliatory” behavior from some Apple store managers, according to retail employees who have spoken on the condition of anonymity over the last year.
At the height of the pro-union efforts within Apple’s retail locations in the summer and fall of 2022, retail managers attempted to soften their tone on the idea of unionizing, telling staff it was not a taboo thing to discuss openly, as I previously reported in August of last year.
