Australian workers to stage Christmas strike over wages, working conditions

SYDNEY Reuters - Hundreds of Apple workers in Australia are preparing to go on a strike ahead of Christmas to demand better working conditions and wages, union leaders and staff said, a move that could hurt the iPhone maker's sales and services in the country.

The more than two-day strike by about 200 of Apple's roughly 4,000 employees in Australia comes as the U.S tech giant faces disruptions due to worker unrest in its main iPhone plant in China.

Members of Australia's Retail and Fast Food Workers Union RAFFWU are asking Apple Inc for fixed rosters, known hours of work, weekends of two consecutive days and an agreed annual wage rise.

This Christmas strike is a way for members to take back their time with family and friends while management continues to refuse to give workers the minimum rostering rights, RAFFWU secretary Josh Cullinan told Reuters on Monday that they would be notified of their intention to strike.

Efforts to get management to the bargaining table immediately failed earlier this week, with Apple refusing to meet until February.

Striking workers would walk out of Apple's retail outlets on December 23 at 3 p.m. 0400 GMT and stay away during Christmas Eve, which is a peak time for sales of Apple iPhones, watches and other products.

The action would be nationwide but it would have the biggest impact on two retail outlets in Brisbane and one in Adelaide and Newcastle, where RAFFWU have the most members.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on the negotiations but said the company was proud to reward our valued team members in Australia with strong compensation and exceptional benefits. In June of this year, Apple workers in Maryland became the first retail employees of the tech giant to unionise in the United States. The union set formal dates in January to start negotiations with Apple.

Apple workers staged a full day strike in October and a one-hour walkout later that month.

One Apple employee, who is going to join the strike but didn't want to be identified because of the fear of being targeted by management, said you can't put a price on work-life balance.

What we've ended up with with Apple is an arrangement where all the non-mandatory benefits have been taken off. Other strike actions that have been continuing earlier this year will also be escalated, including a ban on iPhone repair and Apple Watch repairs for certain hours in some outlets, bans on answering the door in others, bans on conducting sales and bans on wearing the company's festive red t-shirt.