YOUR EMPLOYEE HAPPINESS ARGUMENT IS INVALID: Apple Retail Stores and Union Drives...

Yes, it's true:  Apple is now dealing with union organizing in its award-winning retail stores.  More from Yahoo News:

"Cory Moll, a part-time employee at an Apple store in San Francisco, is working to form a union to fight for better wages and benefits and to address what he says are unfair practices in the company's glass-and-steel retail showrooms.  "The core issues definitely involve compensation, pay, benefits," Moll said, adding that he decided to go public with the union to encourage other employees to come forward.

Moll, who has been working at Apple for four years, said he makes $14 an hour at the San Francisco Apple store. The minimum wage for 2011 in San Francisco, one of the most expensive cities in the United States, is $9.92 an hour.  The 30-year-old employee primarily communicates with other Apple store employees through Twitter, Facebook and the "Apple Retail Workers Union" website, which he created in May, without disclosing his name.

Moll has received little public support from employees so far, though he said he has emails expressing support. An Apple representative confirmed Moll is an employee, but declined to comment on the union effort.

"It's kind of a feeling of David versus Goliath," Moll said of trying to start a union movement in a $320 billion company run by its iconic co-founder, Steve Jobs.  The would-be Apple union's website is sparse, but states: "At Apple, our most important resource, our soul, is our people. Our Time Has Come."

Couple of things related to this story.  First up, some of you are surprised that an Apple retail store employee in one of the biggest markets in the world makes $14 per hour.  Don't be.  It's retail, and while those kids in the stores are super-sharp, the law of supply and demand would indicate that there are associates from Staples, OfficeMax and <gasp> - yes, even Best Buy - who would love to work at an Apple retail store.  For that money.

Next up, like my tipster (reader DJ) asked in his email to me with the link to the story: Can you imagine the reaction of Steve Jobs to this?  Here's my take on how that conversation went:

Messenger: "Steve, wanted you to know that Yahoo just wrote about some kid who's forming a union in our stores."

Steve Jobs: "Big deal - fire him."

Messenger: "Steve, we'd love to fire him but we can't.  His right to form a union is protected under Federal Law.  We'd be risking taking an unfair labor practice charge."

Steve Jobs: "You won't fire him?  You're fired.  <now yelling to his personal assistant>.  Get the next human capital messenger in here, STAT"

It just goes to show you, total employee happiness is impossible.  The beatings will continue until morale improves.  Your argument that Apple is the perfect place where the rules of humanity don't apply is INVALID.

-sent from my iPhone

Comments

[John]

Best line "sent from my iPhone"...classic.

[Jared Hooste]

I can't imagine why it would be difficult to create a union within an organization that pays all of its employees above average wages, except for those in Taiwan or China of course.

Of course not everyone will be happy. Trying to make everyone happy is a lost cause. Make high performer really happy and the above average happy.

Bad timing for Mr. Moll complaining about a job with high unemployment.

[Dan Johnson]

I knew that would get your juices flowing.

[Diane]

Ah, a post while in the Big O. Thanks for the great presentation today!

[TexasTwittHR]

Guess it just goes to show...all that glitters ain't gold.