Opinion: The rise of tech unions shows workers reckoning with reality

Apple store workers unionising is especially significant because their positions are already considered 'good' retail jobs; the corporation raised its hourly wage from US$20 (RM88) to US$22 (RM97) last month to compensate store workers, who are highly knowledgeable about the company’s products. — Getty Images/TNS

Last month, workers at an Apple store in Maryland voted to unionise, another signal that the labour movement is gaining momentum at tech companies. This follows a victory at an Amazon Staten Island warehouse in March, the first US union vote in Amazon’s history (though another company warehouse voted against unionising in May).

Tech is largely thought of as a cushy industry, dominated by big companies with relatively generous wages and benefits. Apple store workers unionising is especially significant because their positions are already considered “good” retail jobs; the corporation raised its hourly wage from US$20 (RM88) to US$22 (RM97) last month to compensate store workers, who are highly knowledgeable about the company’s products. One of the newly unionised store’s organisers directly stated to the New York Times: “We love our jobs. We just want to see them do better.”