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Australia Apple Store workers go on strike over conditions and pay

Strikers at Apple's Brisbane store in October 2022. Source: Cameron Atfield, Sydney Morning Herald

Union members in Apple Stores across Australia are now on strike and calling for Apple to return to negotiations.

As previously announced, workers in Australia's Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU), left their Apple Store posts from 15:00 local time on Friday, December 23 (23:00 ET on Thursday, December 22.) They plan to stay out over Christmas Eve, traditionally a peak sales time for all retailers.

According to Reuters, at the center of the dispute is an agreement dating from 2014 which reportedly denies workers "weekends, consecutive days off, set rosters, set days of work, 12-hour breaks between shifts, [and] overtime rates."

"The 2014 agreement is one such agreement which pushed workers below the legal minimum," representatives from RAFFWU told Reuters.

Apple has declined to comment.

The new walkout is claimed to be only the second national strike in Australian retail history. The first was again Apple Store workers, who previously went on strike in October 2022.