Strike movement in Apple Stores for the release of the iPhone 15

Definitely, the commercial launch of the iPhone 15 is facing headwinds in France. The official presentation of Apple was first disrupted by the withdrawal from the market of an old model, the iPhone 12, as a health precaution. The National Frequency Agency (ANFR) noted that the smartphone emits too powerful electromagnetic waves, higher than the thresholds established by the European Union.

From now on, it is the Apple Stores that should be the subject of a social movement this Friday, September 22, the launch day of the iPhone 15, as well as Saturday 23. As stated by Liberation, the Apple Retail unions in France intend to make this commercial release a sounding board for their demands. Employees could mobilize in three quarters of the French stores of the apple firm, promises a representative of the CGT.

Wage negotiations that are getting bogged down

At issue are mandatory annual negotiations (NAO) which get bogged down and stall over the increase in wages. The intersyndicale (CGT, Unsa, CFDT, Cidre-CFTC) has been demanding, for several weeks, an increase in salaries of 7%, in order to take into account inflation. For its part, the management would propose a boost of 4.5% and the increase in the price of restaurant vouchers by one euro.

The other demands relate, again according to Liberation, “to the end of the recruitment freeze in Apple Stores, an alignment of corporate benefits to all employees, without distinctions, and a redefinition of the group’s long-term strategic vision”.

On its website, the Apple Retail CGT also evokes the negotiation on working time which has been delayed for several months with the issue of weekly rest days and work on Sundays in focus. The union advocates for two consecutive days of rest, the transition to 32 hours paid 35 hours over four or five days at the employee’s choice and a salary increase on Saturday (paid at 125%), the day experiencing the strongest influence in store.

A priori, customers will not be prevented from buying the iPhone 15 this weekend but will have to, warns a union representative, arm themselves with patience to return to the shops. If it is not heard and the management camps on its positions, the inter-union does not rule out continuing the strike movements the following weekends.