On 20 June 2023 the NLRB handed down a damning decision against Apple’s union busting in the US. We face the same rotten tactics in Australia. The pay union busters big bucks to try and suppress conditions.

Download the decision below with the excerpts:

Conclusions of Law
1. Respondent Apple, Inc. is an employer engaged in commerce within the 25 meaning of Section 2(2), (6), and (7) of the Act.
2. Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO (“the Union”) is a labor organization within the meaning of Section 2(5) of the Act.
3. On May 9, 2022, Apple coercively interrogated employees regarding their protected concerted activity and their Union sympathies, in violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act.
4. On May 15, 2022, May 27, 2022, and June 1, 2022, Apple confiscated Union flyers in its employee breakroom, a non-working area, in violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act.
5. By prohibiting the placement of Union flyers on the employee breakroom table on May 15, 2022, May 27, 2022, and June 1, 2022, while permitting solicitation and distribution with respect to non-Union materials, Apple selectively and disparately enforced its Solicitation and Distribution Policy, in violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the Act.
6. The unfair labor practices described above affect commerce within the meaning of Section 2(6) and (7) of the Act.

The Remedy
Having found that Respondent has engaged in certain unfair labor practices, I find that it must be ordered to cease and desist and to take certain affirmative action designed to effectuate the Act’s policies. Respondent shall post an appropriate information notice, as described in the attached Appendix. This notice shall be posted in the Respondent’s facility at 185 Greenwich Street, New  York, New York, wherever notices to employees are regularly posted, for 60 days, without anything covering the notice or defacing its contents. In addition to the physical posting of paper notices, notices shall be distributed electronically, posted on an intranet or an internet site, and/or other electronic means, to the extent Respondent customarily communicates with its employees in such a manner.

In the event that, during the pendency of these proceedings, Respondent has gone out of business or closed its 185 Greenwich Street facility, Respondent shall duplicate and
mail, at its own expense, a copy of the notice to all current employees and former employees employed by Respondent at any time since May 1, 2022.

General Counsel requests as part of the remedy that I order Respondent to rescind or revise its Solicitation and Distribution Policy, which was applied in a manner that restricted its employees in the exercise of their Section 7 rights. As discussed in detail above, such a remedy was eliminated by the Board in AT&T Mobility, LLC, 370 NLRB No. 121 (2021). As an Administrative Law Judge, I am required to apply existing Board precedent that has not been overruled by the Board itself or by the Supreme Court. See Pathmark Stores, Inc., 342 NLRB 378, 378 fn. 1 (2004); Waco, Inc., 273
NLRB 746, 749 fn. 14 (1984). Thus, General Counsel’s request for an order requiring that Respondent revise or rescind its Solicitation and Distribution Policy is denied.

On these findings of fact and conclusions of law, and on the entire record, I issue the following recommended:

Order

Apple, Inc., its officers, agents, successors and assigns shall

1. Cease and desist from
(a) Coercively interrogating employees regarding their protected concerted activities and Union sympathies.
(b) Confiscating Union flyers from its employee breakroom, a non-working area.
(c) Selectively and disparately enforcing its Solicitation and Distribution Policy by prohibiting the placement of Union flyers on the employee breakroom table, while
permitting solicitation and distribution with respect to non-Union materials.
(d) In any like or related manner interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed them by Section 7 of the Act.

Take the following affirmative action necessary to effectuate the policies of the Act.

(a) Within 14 days after service by the Region, post at its facility at 185 Greenwich Street, New York, New York, copies of the attached notice marked “Appendix.” Copies of the notice, on forms provided by the Regional Director for Region 2, after being signed by the Respondent’s authorized representative, shall be posted by the Respondent and maintained for 60 consecutive days in conspicuous places including all places where notices to employees are customarily posted. Reasonable steps shall be taken by Respondent to ensure that the notices are not altered, defaced,
or covered by any other material. If Respondent has gone out of business or closed the 185 Greenwich Street facility, Respondent shall duplicate and mail, at its own expense, a copy of the notice to all current employees and former employees employed by Respondent at any time since May 1, 2022.
(b) Within 21 days after service by the Region, file with the Regional Director for Region 2 a sworn certification of a responsible official on a form provided by the Region attesting to the steps that Respondent has taken to comply.

Download the full judgement here: 230620 Administrative Law Judges Decision-Apple Inc (NLRB)