Apple illegally interrogated staff about union, judge rules

By Josh Eidelson | Bloomberg

Apple Inc. “coercively interrogated” retail employees about their pro-union sympathies and restricted the circulation of union flyers, a US labor board judge ruled, marking a victory for labor organizers at the world’s most valuable company.

In a Tuesday decision, a National Labor Relations Board judge wrote that Apple violated the rights of employees at its World Trade Center store in New York City, one of several around the country where workers waged union campaigns last year.

The judge wrote that Apple should be required to “cease and desist” from coercively interrogating workers about their legally protected labor activism. It should stop confiscating pro-union literature in its break rooms and “interfering with, restraining or coercing employees” in the exercise of their rights, according to the decision.

An Apple spokesperson didn’t have an immediate comment. The Cupertino, California-based company has previously denied wrongdoing.

“Apple fosters an open and inclusive work environment whereby employees are not just permitted, but encouraged, to share their feelings and thoughts on a range of issues, from social justice topics to pay equity to anything else that they feel is an important cause to promote in the workplace,” company attorney Jason Stanevich said at a January hearing before the judge.