Apple Workers In France Will Strike During IPhone 15 Launch

Unions at Apple stores in France have called for a strike

JAKARTA-The union of workers at Apple stores in France has called for a strike on Friday and Saturday, September 22-23 when the iPhone 15 is scheduled to be launched in the country. They demand an increase in salaries and better working conditions.

Apple's unions including CGT, Unsa, CFDT, and Cidre-CFTC have asked for a 7% increase in wages to keep up with inflation. They also asked the company to end its suspension of employee recruitment for several months. "Management is not willing to offer an increase of more than 4.5%," said the union official.

Apple France has not yet responded to a request for comment from the media over the strike.

"With management deciding to ignore our very legitimate demands and concerns, four French Retail Apple unions...are calling for a strike on September 22 and 23," Apple Retail said in a statement on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday 20 September.

They also added that representatives from the French Apple corporate division and Apple Barcelona team in Spain also called for a strike.

The union has asked workers to hold a demonstration on Friday morning at Opera Garnier, close to the main Apple store in Paris.

CGT union employee Apple Retail said calls for a strike had been sent to 20 Apple stores in France. Apple owns nine stores in Paris, including three in downtown Paris, and two in Lyon. Other cities that own Apple stores include Marseille, Lille, and Strasbourg.

"On Tuesday we held a telephone conference meeting with European bosses Apple. They basically said 'you guys are good enough, don't complain'," the CGT official said.

Last week, Apple was shocked by the French government's decision to suspend sales of the iPhone 12 following tests stating that there was a violation of radiation exposure restrictions.

On Friday, September 15, Apple pledged to update the software on the iPhone 12 in France to resolve the dispute, but concerns in other European countries signal that the company may also have to take similar action elsewhere.