Apple will raise the minimum wage for salespeople at its stores in the United States. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the value of each hour worked will be worth at least US$ 22 (R$ 105.00, in direct conversion) as of July.
The newspaper had access to an email sent by the manufacturer to its employees on Wednesday (25). The change represents a 45% increase from 2018.
The internal communiqué also mentions the possibility of higher minimum wages, varying according to the city. However, there is no official clarification from Apple about this.
Why was the raise given now?
The increase in the hourly rate is the company’s answer to deal with the rise in inflation in the country —which reached 8.5% in March— and with the efforts to unionize by employees.
Some critics, however, consider this increase modest, with some workers in other industries earning as much as $17 an hour in high-cost cities like New York and San Francisco.
In Apple’s last fiscal year, the company’s revenue was US$ 366 billion (R$ 1.6 trillion in direct conversion).
“Supporting and retaining the best team members in the world allows us to deliver the best and most innovative products and services to our customers,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement, according to MacRumors.
“This year, as part of our annual performance review process, we are increasing our overall compensation budget,” the company added.
Unionist pressures
Employees at different Apple stores across the United States, such as New York, Washington, and Maryland, began organizing to unionize.
In April, Atlanta employees started a petition to formalize the process, seeking to become the company’s first US store to have unionized employees, Reuters reported.
In addition to higher salaries, professionals want more vacation time and more favorable retirement options.
And today the organization of employees has gained a new chapter. A video featuring the company’s head of retail, Deirdre O’Brien, was leaked. In the material, she tells Apple employees that unionization could delay improvements in the work environment.
*With information from the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.
