(Bloomberg) – The National Labor Relations Board has dismissed the most serious allegations against Apple Inc. in a high-profile case involving the firing of retail employees, but officials continue to say the company mistreated its employees. He claims that he did.
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Last year, the company fired five employees who were helping organize a union effort at a store in Kansas City, Missouri. Apple said the employees were fired for missing work, being late, or failing to properly mark their time. But the Communications Workers of America (CWA) claimed in a complaint filed with the NLRB last year that the workers were actually fired for their unionization efforts.
NLRB prosecutors initially dismissed the dismissal charges last October, but the union filed an appeal in November. On Thursday, the NLRB denied the appeal and found that the CWA found that there was “insufficient evidence to show that the employer fired the employee for protected activity rather than for a legitimate business reason.” There is,” he said.
Still, the General Counsel's Office has found that Apple has used other methods to force employees to waive their legal rights, threaten them with worse working conditions because they supported unions, and question them about the labor movement. NLRB spokeswoman Kayla said the agency determined that a violation of the law had been committed. Vlad said Friday.
Vlad said in an email that the General Counsel's Office also found that Apple violated the law by holding an anti-union rally with a forcibly “detained audience.” If a settlement is not reached, the NLRB plans to file charges against the company.
“We strongly deny these allegations and look forward to providing the NLRB with the full facts,” Apple said in an emailed statement. The charges filed by NLRB prosecutors are reviewed by the agency's judges, whose decisions are appealed to members of the Labor Relations Board in Washington, and from there to the Federal Court of Appeals. The agency does not have the authority to force companies to pay punitive damages for violations or hold executives personally liable for violations.
Apple has been at loggerheads with labor groups and the U.S. Labor Relations Board over the past two years as U.S. retailers push to unionize. So far, unionization has only been successful in two locations: Oklahoma City and Towson, Maryland. The Short Hills, N.J., store is voting this weekend to decide whether to take that step.
Also this weekend, Towson stores will vote on whether to authorize a strike ahead of new negotiations with Apple. The two sides have reached a series of agreements, none of which represent a major change from Apple's existing policies. The union informed employees that negotiations continue over pay, overtime, unpaid time off, vacation pay, schedules and more.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Labor Relations Board ruled that Apple illegally interrogated employees at its World Trade Center store in New York City.
(Updates to add fourth paragraph of NLRB complaint.)
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