Affiliate Disclosure
If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Read our ethics policy.

Apple denies having illegally disciplined unionization supporters

Apple Country Club Plaza, Kansas City, Missouri

Some Apple Stores have successfully unionized, but it's not an effort that the parent company appears to support. A new report highlights how Apple might be pushing back.

Unionization efforts have been going strong at various Apple retail stores across the United States for some time now. But as far as Apple is concerned, retail workers are better off not unionizing.

The New York Times has a new report that sheds light on company pushback to unionization efforts, including from Apple, Starbucks, REI, and Trader Joe's. In each of these cases, the companies are said to be pushing back against retail employees to various degrees, specifically the ones that support union efforts.

To that end, the publication spoke with several former Apple Store employees that all said they were reprimanded for supporting unionization efforts. With the various stories from the former employees, it appears they were disciplined for reasons like not clocking in on time, which ultimately led to their firings.

One former employee interviewed is Gemma Wyatt, who says that she was reprimanded in 2022 for "clocking in late a few times" over the course of several weeks. That all came to a head when Wyatt "missed a store meeting because she was sick but failed to notify managers soon enough," which ultimately led to her being fired in early 2023.

She had been working in an Apple Store in Kansas City, Missouri, at the time. She says that she was at least the fifth store employee to be fired since the previous fall, and that, "It took us time to realize they weren't firing us just because of time and attendance".

Wyatt is part of the group of former Apple Store employees from that store that filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in March of this year. That complaint was filed by the Communication Workers of America (CWA) union, which has used Apple's own diversity data to show the company isn't doing enough in several areas.

Another former employee, D'lite Xiong, spoke about their experience. Xiong was apparently promoted and even praised for doing good work with the company, but that led to their sudden firing in October of last year.

Xiong speculates Apple "discovered their role in union organizing after they sought to enlist co-workers".

The Towson, Maryland Apple Store was the first to successfully vote for unionization last year, but have since reentered negotiations as they seek to earn pay raises, customer tips, and more.

Unsurprisingly, Apple issued a statement to The New York Times denying these claims put forward by former employees. The company said, "We strongly deny these claims and look forward to providing the full set of facts to the NLRB".



9 Comments

jib 23 Years · 65 comments

Unfortunately, being late and missing meetings can get one fired.  Whether or not you support unionization.

MplsP 8 Years · 4047 comments

Unsurprisingly, Apple issued a statement to The New York Times denying these claims put forward by former employees. The company said, "We strongly deny these claims and look forward to providing the full set of facts to the NLRB".”

When was the last time a company responded to a lawsuit by saying “the plaintiffs are right. We broke the law.” ?

Being late and missing meetings can get one sacked, for sure. The question becomes what was the typical response to such behaviors. Had similar behavior been tolerated in the past? Were there any warnings issued? Did other employees face similar punishments for similar behaviors? Or were certain employees singled out and disciplined for behavior that was otherwise tolerated? We can’t tell from the information presented. 

pjt1 3 Years · 2 comments

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Maybe you can chronicly be late for work with other retailers, but you won't last long at Apple pulling this crap.

9secondkox2 8 Years · 3148 comments

If you suck as an employee, you get disciplined or fired. Trying to unionize has nothing to do with it. A bunch of entitled psychos. 

Also, the union can push for whatever. Apple is not obligated to do any of it. Bullies only get their way when you let them. 

chasm 10 Years · 3624 comments

If you suck as an employee, you get disciplined or fired. Trying to unionize has nothing to do with it. A bunch of entitled psychos. 
Also, the union can push for whatever. Apple is not obligated to do any of it. Bullies only get their way when you let them. 

You might try reading the actual article before commenting for a change. Over the course of this and other such stories, it has become clear that micro-infractions are being used as a tool for dismissal only against pro-union employees rather than fairly.


This particular article also features the story of a highly-praised employee who was let go after he tried to recruit co-workers to support unionization. As you’d have learned if you’d read past the headline.