Anti-union talks continue at Apple Store in Reston, VA

Apple Reston

As Apple Store employees continue discussing the possibility of unionizing, and with a few stores unionizing or taking steps in that direction, Apple is keen to fend off other efforts to do the same. In one case, this seemingly includes attempts to dissuade workers from unionizing in the daily download meetings.

In emails sent from an employee to AppleInsider, Apple is said to have used the mandatory daily download from Saturday morning to promote the idea that unions aren't the way forward. The meeting was required and for any employees clocked in at the time it occurred.

The talk was described as "shaming" store workers for talking about unions in the first place. "If you are having secret talks about things, it's probably not a good thing to be doing," store management allegedly told workers.

There was also a discussion on how collective bargaining made it tougher for workers to get benefits, and warned that promotions would become seniority-based rather than performance or merit-based. One supposed analogy claimed "It's like trying to get dinner with a group of 30 people. It's hard to make a decision and nothing gets done."

The store leader is also said to have declared "it's legal for union reps to like to you about what unions can do to get you to join."

It is also claimed workers were told they could be forced to join the union even if they voted against it, which is false for states like Virginia. There are allegations that staff are also warned that talk about some laws are apparently lies to trick workers into joining the union.

This would not be the first time that Apple went after unionization attempts at the Apple Reston store. In August, Apple Market Leaders visited the outlet and used the closure of Starbucks stores that had recently unionized as negative examples.

Elsewhere in the empire, Apple had previously circulated anti-union talking points to store managers in May, while in April, it hired lawyers known for busting unions.