Apple employees are increasingly mobilizing against the group’s culture of secrecy: two employees have turned to the US labor protection agency National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with complaints, as it has confirmed – the allegations are now being investigated.
One case concerns alleged workplace harassment by a manager, such as the news agency Reuters reports. According to the employee released by Apple, in response to an internal complaint about the behavior of the manager, she was then assigned unpleasant tasks and the actual job was transferred to colleagues.
Apple promises investigation
Another Apple employee has complained to the NLRB that Apple has apparently cracked down on surveys on pay equity several times. When employees are organized to draw attention to internal grievances, the group reacts with “coercive measures” and “suppressive activities” – the organizers are thereby exposed to harassment and abuse. “Take all concerns seriously” and investigate them carefully, said Apple in a statement to Reuters with.
The NLRB is investigating all the complaints that have been made, and no proceedings have yet been initiated against Apple.
Apple employees team up
Apple employees have only been publicly venting their anger about company decisions or internal disagreements for a few months. Employees have started to organize themselves and exchange experiences via hashtags such as #AppleToo, Discord servers, internal Slack channels and websites. Apple’s culture of secrecy creates an “intimidating fortress” for some employees – especially minorities – and complaints are not heard internally, they say. The employees demand that the company take more action against structural problems and disadvantages.
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