Apple Sued For Turning Workers Into Slaves 1153
SwiftyNifty writes "Apple employees are putting together a class action lawsuit for not receiving overtime pay. A Lawsuit filed Monday in California seeks class action status alleging that Apple denied technical staffers required overtime pay and meal compensation in violation of state law.
Filed in the US District Court for Southern California, the complaint claims that many Apple employees are routinely subjected to working conditions resembling indentured servitude, or 'modern day slaves,' for lack of better words."
Just until the suite is resolved,, (Score:5, Informative)
Just wait until they win their suit..Apple will pay the court required payments.. then convert all those employee to an hourly status...at a base pay cut design to make it so that all the overtime is required to make it back to what they were getting in salary in the first place.
For the IBM employeesu in California that sued for the same thing.. the class won $56M and everyone in the class was reclassified as hourly at a 15% pay cut, because based on IBM's calculations that would keep the wage payments at the same level after the switch from salary to hourly. And oh by the way.. IBM applied the reclassification across all American employees in the same job category, but not the class action payments.
Re:My Wife's A Teacher (Score:4, Informative)
Re:No, *THESE* are slaves (Score:5, Informative)
So how does this compare, to BMW for example, where their German workforce is also highly unionized? Have they essentially done the same thing as the U.S. automakers, essentially shipping jobs away from heavy regulations in favor of lighter ones?
A quick Google search http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=bmw+unionization+U.S.+plants [google.com] tells me that the U.S. plant is non-unionized but pays competitive wages. What this doesn't say is how their non-wage costs, benefits and retirement for example, compare with their unionized force in German and with the Big 3.
Re:Cry me a river (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Slaves, eh? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Slaves, eh? (Score:4, Informative)
If it isn't racist, it isn't slavery? That's the stupidest argument I ever heard. There might be good reasons to argue that it isn't slavery, but you've failed to find one of them.
Apple Retail Stores... (Score:2, Informative)
Notice, this is past tense.
I was a part time employee, working 35-40 hours a week. I was doing their inhouse training - all of it, getting within the top 50 company wide - outselling everyone in my store, getting commendations from Corporate because my customers kept contacting them saying how good of a job I did, all of this that sounds like a good retail "slave" would do. I was not late (when some people had over 50-75 late arrivals in 6 months, and were not fired), I did my job, and I did it very well. And yes, I still have documentation from the customers I did work with.
But I was told I was, basically, not kissing enough ass - ie: I didn't feel special to work for Apple, nor did I think I was - I was not able to get full time. They would encourage a process where you are *supposed* to be able to give and receive feedback openly and honestly, and it ended up this wasn't the case. Basically, if you dared to tell a manager or one of their worker flunkies anything but sunshine, rainbows, and clowns, you were on a blacklist.
They didn't want to give benefits, but they still wanted me to work full time.. needless to say, I left the company within a month after this. At the time, I had worked full time hours for approximately 3 months. The other 6 months I was not making enough money to pay rent, much less anything else. The stress from working at an Apple Retail Store was not worth the "cool shirts" and the "cool people".
There are a lot more extenuating circumstances to this, but I'm still considering talking to Corporate, and by Corporate, I mean at the top, so I'll leave it at the beginning. (Mismanagement, Harassment, from the top down, and coverups from Corporate from that matter too, including the fact I basically got railroaded and told my problems didn't matter, when I was going through the handbook and pointing out violations.)
Did they give great discounts? I'm sure. But for working there 9 months, all I still own made by Apple is an iPod. Because they sure as hell didn't pay enough to pay bills, much less buy their products.
I think there could be something more to this story if you look past what he called it, and actually looked at the business practices and violations that are maintained and held - and defended - by Corporate.
Re:No, *THESE* are slaves (Score:5, Informative)
I can't talk to them because they speak Chinese. But I have worked with them and have spoken to the factory engineers who do speak English.
They aren't all "happy", and nor are they all "sad". That's too simplistic. They are people with a wide range of emotions. Most of them - as I said before - were subsistence farmers and most have no education. None at all. They can't read or write.
The competition for labor is fierce. They move around from factory to factory seeking higher pay (the engineers do this, too). They aren't slaves that are compelled to work in one place.
Would they rather be living with their families? Certainly some (most?) would. Are they happy to have a full belly and some money to send back home? Absolutely.
Re:Queue the jokes, and something serious... (Score:5, Informative)
"They can't fire you for not working overtime. "
Yes, yes they can, they can fire you without even giving a reason in any of the "at will" states.
Re:No, *THESE* are slaves (Score:5, Informative)
Protecting a domestic job artificially costs the entire society in productivity lost and higher cost of goods sold. It's like enacting a tax to benefit the factory worker.
Besides the economic mumbo-jumbo, the choices aren't "$50/month for an iPod maker in China vs. $2500/month for an iPod maker in the west". In reality, the production line would include a lot more automation if it had to be produced in the west. Just look at western vs. Chinese coal mines. Also, if products cost more, fewer would be sold and so even fewer workers would be needed. How many iPods do you think Apple would sell if the price doubled or tripled?
It's the law (Score:5, Informative)
Read the laws reguarding overtime. According the the Fair Labor Standards Act, an employee must be classified as exempt by meeting certain legal requirements, or they must be paid 1.5x their hourly wage. The law specifically states that no contract or agreement between employee and employer can override the law.
Read all about it, you very well might be a victim too!
http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/flsa/ [dol.gov]
Re:No, *THESE* are slaves (Score:3, Informative)
I have a housemate who is a anthropologist (expert in China and Taiwan), and I asked her the one question which has been rattling my brain for a while- what do the Chinese factory workers think of America based on the things that they make for us to buy?
Believe it or not there is a documentary on this subject called "Marti Gras, Made In China" [mardigrasmadeinchina.com].
Interesting and worth seeing! It does change your mind about a few things, from both sides of the conversation.
Re:No, *THESE* are slaves (Score:4, Informative)
And at the same time, the factory owners are moving to the inner provinces as wages demands keep increasing, thus increasing the demand for transportation.
Riot at McDonalds toy making factory [forbes.com]
Re:cry me a river... (Score:3, Informative)
Computer programmers, systems administrators, computer analysts, and engineers are on the "exempt" list.
As a rule, the IT profession gets screwed by the "exempt" status. We're "professionals", yet we don't have the same level of autonomy as most of the "professional" classes (lawyers, doctors, etc).
Working an occasional 60-hour week when things are rough / deadlines are slipping is expected in this business. Working 60 to 80-hour weeks all the time is not only abusive, it's counterproductive. There's only so much brainpower one can engage: and I'd bet that the vast majority of that 60-hour week is unproductive time anyway.
Re:My Wife's A Teacher (Score:5, Informative)
Re:No, *THESE* are slaves (Score:5, Informative)
Because slavery is a worse problem... (Score:3, Informative)
No one's saying denying workers their rights under CA law is a good thing. But slavery is also a huge problem, and a much worse one on an individual level than not getting one's work break.
It would be like someone living in a normal apartment in Boston that had a problem with the hot water heater every four hours complaining that they were being forced to live in an outhouse. Or a tar pit. Only like there really were millions who had to live in outhouses and tar pits. The claim takes the focus away from the hot water heater.
And there really are millions of slaves. [riverofinnocents.com]
Re:Cry me a river (Score:3, Informative)
Note that a lot of non-management people are classified as management to get around this... but this classification can be overturned by the court, and often is when tested.
Your state laws may vary... but you should be aware of the law, and what your rights are. If you don't feel it's a big deal, and don't want to push, that's fine... but I know several people (myself included) who have used this to justify an above-average salary adjustment at review time.
Most employers are aware of the law, and will follow it if pressed. The punitive damages for blatantly ignoring the law, the cost of replacing an employee, all put it in the employee's favor should things come to a head.
Re:No, *THESE* are slaves (Score:5, Informative)
If demand for work is higher than supply of work, then people who provide work can charge a premium; this translates to increased hours.
In other words, one worker for 15 hours is one bed and three meals. Two workers for 8 hours is two beds and six meals.
If there were more work than workers, workers could dictate their hours, their pay, and their benefits. Make sense?
Re:What would Stallman say? (Score:5, Informative)
My girlfriend used to work for AppleCare (in the call center). Here's what she said about it (from IM, so excuse the grammar/typing):
Re:No, *THESE* are slaves (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What would Stallman say? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:What would Stallman say? (Score:5, Informative)
I've been teaching for twenty years now and I can attest to the fact that slave labor is rampant in education. Many are require to volunteer (work) for the good of the institution---and it's often a money-maker for the institution. Even with the world's strongest union, we're typically forced into slave labor. Just the other day my boss told me that we as teacher are going to have to increase our non-teaching workload by 40%. The number is nonsense, but it basically suggest that we're going to have to increase our workload.
Anyway, the point being, even with a strong union you can't stop this from happening, so I am kind of surprised that people see this as unusual at Apple, everyone's doing it.
I also see this as hitting the educated more than any other group.
Re:What would Stallman say? (Score:3, Informative)
My girlfriend used to work for AppleCare (in the call center). Here's what she said about it (from IM, so excuse the grammar/typing):
well...your expected to check your company related email, stats, get your system booted, go aver any company alerts BEFORE you sign on. this requires most to come in early to do work related things. the catch is Apple doesn't pay you till you're signed on and your shift actually starts. Apple's argument is that you can do these other work related things between calls ... but that's difficult because calls come in constantly... and time in "idle" counts against you.
That's actually the case with any call-center. It's not unique to Apple.
Doesn't make it fair, though, IMO.
Re:What would Stallman say? (Score:5, Informative)
Man, if that's what they were doing they are screwed, from:
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2003/11/24/daily21.html [bizjournals.com]
"T-Mobile said 20,546 workers at 13 call centers, including one in Salem, were required to perform "preparatory activities" prior to the beginning of their normal shifts. Such activities -- and any other work-related activity beyond 40 hours per week -- must be compensated under the Fair Labor Standards Act, according to an announcement."
T-Mobile lost to the tune of 4.8 Million. Can we say precedence?
Re:What would Stallman say? (Score:3, Informative)
I ALWAYS compensate myself for "unpaid" work.
I start charging the minute I walk through the door, so if I'm expect to "check company related email, stats, get your system booted, go aver any company alerts BEFORE you sign on," Apple can forget that. I'll sign on FIRST and then go read that other crap. If I'm working, they will pay me.
Same with teaching. Every hour I work, whether it's coaching afterschool or correcting homework at home, will get billed somewhere.
Now some people say "Well you're salaried".
Does not matter. If I end-up working 60 hours a week, my effective hourly rate is reduced to only $15. Might as well go get an easy-to-do factory job or sales job and get the same pay.
Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What would Stallman say? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:What would Stallman say? (Score:5, Informative)
Other companies in the past have tried to get away with this and been slapped hard. The case Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co [wikipedia.org]. was specifically decided in the employees favor on just this issue.
The pottery company did not start paying the employees until after they had reached their workstations, put on their work clothes, cleaned and sharpened their tools. The court ruled that any activity performed exclusively for the benefit of the company counts as paid time, even walking to your workstation. Hence the name "portal-to-portal decision" - employees must be paid as soon as they walk in the door and don't stop until they walk out of it.
I think Apple is probably in trouble here.
Re:What would Stallman say? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What would Stallman say? (Score:5, Informative)
Many programmers (especially interns and entry level) are non-exempt. I fail to see how a call center worker would be exempt from overtime rules.
In California, most exempt workers operate under the administrative exemption. An employee is an exempt administrator if he/she regularly exercises discretion and independent judgment, performs under only general supervision, and is primarily engaged in duties that require the exercise of discretion and independent judgment. This means that in the course of day-to-day activities, the employee frequently compares and evaluates possible courses of conduct and, after considering various possibilities, acts or makes a decision. An employee who follows a prescribed procedure, or determines which procedure to follow, is not exercising independent judgment.
While most if not all employees are required to exercise discretion in decision making, an exempt employee must be dealing with matters that are significant to the policies or operations of the business or its customers.
Re:What would Stallman say? (Score:2, Informative)
California has the computer professional exemption. Most IT workers do not meet its requirements. A worker must perform one of these duties 50% of the time.
And their salary must match the hourly rate of $36 begining Jan 2008. Simply earning $74,880 will not make you exempt. It will only make you exempt if you never work more than 40 hours in a week. As soon as you work 41 hours in a week, the exemption would fail, impacting your classification for the whole year while making you elegible for past overtime. If you worked 50 hours in any week, your employer would need to pay you a salary of $93,600 to safely keep you at the $36 per hour rate. For 60 hours it goes up to $112,320, 70 hours is $131,040, and 80 hours is $149,760.
Prior to 2008, the hourly rate was $49.77: 40 hours = $103,522, 50 hours = $129,402, 60 hours = $155,282, 70 hours = $181,163, and 80 hours = $207,044. You have 4 years to claim past overtime.
Employers in Calfornia must still track all hours worked by their exempt employees. I have never worked at a company that actually did this. They track the standard 8 hour day for benefits (PTO, sick, vacation) purposes, not the actual hours worked. Exempt employees need to keep a detailed work log because employers routinely abuse the exempt classifications. Employers pay salary because it is easy (and often cheaper).
Re:No, *THESE* are slaves (Score:3, Informative)
The real reason it costs so much less is that contributing to a 401k means that the money is removed from the regular revenue stream.
Pension payments and 401K payments are practically no different. A company that skimps on its pension fund also can find ways to delay their matching payments to 401K plans. The difference that pension plans include unknown costs in the future whereas a 401K has much more defined costs for the company.
The idiots at GM spent all the money that was supposed to be set aside for pensions which is why they are in so much trouble now.
You speak from ignorance. The idiots at GM committed entirely too much of their revenue to pensions, which left them with few options for growth. In the past 15 years, GM spent over $100 billion dollars on pension and retiree health care costs. GM did fall behind in payments earlier this decade but has tried to make up the difference the past few years, cash starving the business even further. This situation was created by the shortsightedness of the company and union leadership of the 50s and 60s.
401ks are far safer as employees and employers alike I believe have learned the lesson, plus 401ks are transferrable so if you lose your job after 28 years you don't risk your retirement.
401Ks offer lower benefit levels and are only as safe as your investment choices, the stability of your portfolio management company, and the national economy. However, I do agree that they are, generally, a better option for both sides in the long term simply because all of the company's retiree costs are paid for along the way.
Re:What would Stallman say? (Score:4, Informative)
This is pretty much industry standard in call-centers. I mentioned this to my managers that I was against coming in early to start computer, read e-mails and sit at my desk for 10 - 15 minutes before I get paid. Add it up over the year and you're looking at an extra $2000. They said no and basically implied that if I didn't I would lose my job. Some of the employees didn't agree with my position and didn't see what was wrong with it until they did the math.
Just to be clear. I've no problem doing the work or the overtime. Coming into work early is fine with me. But they never even offered - and would not even - boot the computers for the employees. In a sales position I made more than enough money that I didn't care. When it came to entry level work, where you don't work for much money and return a lot to the company - as with most call center jobs, its really taking advantage of the unfortunate.
Re:No, *THESE* are slaves (Score:3, Informative)
The net effect of the exploitation for us, from a purely monetary standpoint, is that money that was circulating in our country is now circulating in another country, making our country poorer.
This is simply not true. If you'd taken even a first year macro-economics course, you'd realize that in order for us to buy goods from China, the importer has to sell our currency to purchase Chinese currency. In doing so, someone out there has to purchase our currency from him, and the general reasons for doing that is to purchase something we export or to make an investment in our economy. The fact is that Chinese money circulates in China and our money (with a couple exceptions) circulates in our country.
For an example, consider this scenario. I am Canadian and I live in Canada. All of my living expenses are paid in Canadian Dollars (mortgage, car payment, utilities, food, etc.). However, for about 5 years I worked for a US company and was paid in US dollars. You could consider me an exporter of engineering services. My employer had to sell my services to customers in US dollars and pay all of his expenses (including my salary) in US dollars. Once those US dollars were in my US bank account, I still couldn't use them directly in Canada (you have to ignore the case that some Canadian restaurants near the border might accept US dollars because they still have to pay all their expenses in Canadian, so at some point the money has to be exchanged).
So every two weeks I'd phone up my bank and sell almost all of my US currency for Canadian currency and have it transferred to my Canadian account in Canada. But the fact is that those US dollars still existed. For a short time the bank owned them (they keep a reserve of both currencies). Then, by putting that small amount of money on the currency trading market, the pool of US dollars was increased ever-so-slightly and the pool of Canadian currency was decreased by the same amount. In real terms, perhaps the exchange rate changed by 0.000001% or something. Ultimately, the supply of US dollars on the market went up, and the supply of Canadian dollars went down.
Somewhere out there people make business decisions about what country to buy their stuff from based on the exchange rate and relative prices. Those US dollars I put on the market were then purchased by someone who had another currency and most likely wanted to purchase something from the US. Perhaps it was the GM dealership in Canada that I purchased my vehicle from (the VIN number starts with a 1 so I know it was manufactured in the US). Somehow GM had to take my Canadian dollars that I paid for the vehicle and sell some of them for US dollars to pay the expenses at the plant where it was built.
If you don't think it has an effect, consider this... back in 2001 when I started working for a US company, I was exchanging every US dollar for 1.6 Canadian dollars, and at the time, given relative salaries, etc., it made a lot of sense for me to do it. Now the exchange rate is near 1 to 1. That changes my economic incentives drastically. The market was pushing Americans to purchase goods and services externally back in 2001, but now you can see lines of Canadians heading to the US to shop every weekend because the market is pushing Canadians to buy from the US. In a free currency market, trade will tend to balance. (Not that the Chinese currency market is free by any means.)
Consider the opposite. Let's say that China keeps selling crazy amounts of stuff to the US without buying anything in return. The Chinese exporter has to sell the US dollars that the Americans paid with and buy Chinese Yuan (sp?) to pay the expenses of the plant. Over time this will decrease the amount of Yuan available and increase the amount of US dollars available on the market. This can't continue for long until the Yuan is so scarce and the US dollar is so available that the exchange rate swings wildly to the point where it doesn't make sense for (a) Americans to continue purchasing Chinese products or (b) Chinese not to purchase American products.
This is pretty basic economics.
Re:What would Stallman say? (Score:4, Informative)
Completely illegal. I work for a health care business office and they tried to pull that crap on us, saying we must be logged into the system and into our first account within 3 minutes of clocking in. If we don't have time after swiping, come in early.
I swiftly pointed out that practice to be illegal, and proceeded to time myself walking from the clock, to my workstation, booting my computer, loading Outlook (we are required to check for systems alerts before logging in) and even that took me almost 5 minutes. I hadn't even started our software. The max time between clocking and starting work went back to 10 minutes.
Labor laws are VERY clear on this issue. They can require you to come prepared (dressed a certain way, or whatever), but they cannot require you do perform ANY work related tasks without pay. Heck, they can't even ask.
the complaint (Score:2, Informative)
Re:What would Stallman say? (Score:3, Informative)