Should You Be Able to Tip Apple Store Workers?

Over the past few years, there’s been a quietly growing movement at several Apple Stores across the U.S. toward unionized workers. While attempts had been made to create such unions as far back as 2011, it’s only since last year that some Apple retail employees have gained enough traction to actually form a union at an Apple Store.

As The Washington Post reported in early 2022, employees at Apple Stores have expressed concerns that they aren’t sharing in the company’s good fortune as much as they should be. While the average compensation for Apple’s front-line retail employees ranges from $17 to $30 per hour, and they often receive relatively small stock bonuses, those wages have remained relatively static over the years and haven’t kept up with inflation.

While those hourly wages align with what most other retailers pay, Apple’s store workers tend to exude more passion for the company’s products than those at most other retailers. This helps drive more sales, and employees believe Apple’s success should trickle down to those on the front lines.

Unionization and collective bargaining is one way that many Apple retail employees feel that they can get the recognition they deserve, but it’s not just about money. While Apple tries to present itself as a company that encourages diversity, employees have also complained about problems with discrimination and harassment in the workplace.

While those in Apple’s upper echelons would almost certainly disapprove of this behavior, it’s just another way Apple has become a victim of its own success. With 150,000 employees worldwide, about half of which work in Apple’s retail stores, it’s forced to rely on multiple layers of middle management, which weakens the chain of accountability.

Nevertheless, Apple’s hands aren’t clean here. In dealing with threats of unionization in its stores, Apple has resorted to “heavy-handed” tactics that many have described as “union-busting” measures, including holding mandatory meetings for employees to dissuade them from joining or forming a union, issuing anti-union “talking point” memos to store managers, and hiring anti-union lawyers.

Despite this, employees at the Apple Store in Towson, Maryland, made history last spring when they became the first Apple Store workers to form a union, joining the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. At the time, the workers cited having a say in their working conditions as the main reason for unionizing, especially after the stress of working through the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, “working conditions” includes pay, and many employees feel they’re not being appropriately compensated for their workload and the technical skill they bring to the table.

Pushing the Retail Envelope

According to a report from Bloomberg this week, the union for the Maryland store is now in the midst of contract talks with Apple, where they’re pushing for pay increases, additional time off, and one thing that seems even more unusual on the surface: the ability for customers to tip them for their services.

The proposal that’s on the table right now is asking for “raises of as much as 10%, as well as major changes to the outlet’s vacation policy, bereavement leave, and overtime.” Apple’s Maryland retail workers also want higher pay for holidays, particularly on the day after Thanksgiving, colloquially known as Black Friday, presumably due to the additional workload and stress of dealing with the frenetic shopping event.

Further, the union wants Apple to pay double the normal wage for overtime — defined in this case as work over eight hours per day or 40 hours per week — plus $1 per hour more to employees with first-aid certifications and 34 weeks of severance pay for employees who are laid off.

The group is also asking for a change in Apple’s bereavement leave policies. Currently, the company offers up to 10 days per occurrence for the death of a family member; the union is asking that it be extended to 45 days per year and expanded to include the deaths of close friends and pets.

In a more controversial request, the union also wants Apple to adopt a tipping system in the Maryland store, where customers would be prompted by the point-of-sale system to add “gratuities in increments of 3%, 5% or a custom amount for in-store credit-card transactions.”

“This will allow thankful patrons the ability to express gratitude for a job well done without any obligations,” the union wrote in its request to Apple. However, as with tipping in other service industries, it appears that these wouldn’t be solely for the employee who assisted a given customer. Instead, the union suggests these would be shared proportionally by all employees, noting that “All monies collected through this manner would be dispersed to members of the bargaining unit biweekly based on any hours worked.”

These contract negotiations are about more than just money, though, and the good news is that the union has already established some tentative agreements with Apple around several policy and procedural issues, including a process for resolving problems with paychecks, changes to the company’s nondiscrimination and health and safety policies, and a commitment to offer employees jobs at other locations in the event the Maryland store is permanently closed.