From Apple to Amazon, Social Protest Is Growing in American Tech.
Always at the forefront of technological innovation, these giants should accept social change.
The giants of the American Tech industry have not only had stock market setbacks. On the social front, the clouds are piling up in recent months in America. Complaints and lawsuits are multiplying against the big names of the sector, accused of various discriminatory and anti-union practices.
The most recent example came from the emblematic Apple Store located just a stone's throw from the World Trade Center memorial in the heart of New York. A complaint filed by the large American union CWA (Communications Workers of America) accuses the iPhone manufacturer of having violated federal laws by interrogating its employees, preventing the posting of leaflets, and forcing the store's teams to attend anti-union meetings. The accusation echoes the revelations of the American website Vice. A few days ago, it published a document sent by Apple to managers of its stores, to provide them with an anti-union argument based on the loss of benefits, opportunities, and flexibility of employees who would make this choice.
The alleged practices come as several Apple stores are undergoing attempts by employees to form a union, in New York, Maryland, and Atlanta, where a vote on the issue is scheduled for early June and could result in the first union in Apple's entire U.S. retail network. The Cupertino firm led by Tim Cook is trying to contain these outbreaks at all costs.
A historic first at Amazon in early 2022
This stubborn resistance is reminiscent of Amazon's. The e-commerce and cloud giant is the second-largest employer in the United States after Walmart, with nearly 1 million Americans in its workforce. Since its inception a quarter-century ago, Jeff Bezos' group has struggled to avoid the formation of unions in its logistics warehouses. But the tide is turning.
In early 2021, a union was born at Google - an earthquake in Silicon Valley. And at Amazon, after controversies over the treatment of its employees exploded during the pandemic - and while the Biden administration is openly in favor of the formation of unions to defend the little hands of Tech - the game is changing.
Late last year, Amazon was forced to inform all its employees of their right to unionize. And at the end of February 2022, following a no-questions-asked vote at an 8,000-employee site in New York State, Amazon's very first union was born. The historic event has not yet been repeated. But other votes are scheduled across the country. In parallel, the denunciations of the practices of the Seattle giant continue in court. No later than Thursday, a New York State agency unveiled a complaint about alleged discrimination against a pregnant woman - forced to continue lifting loads of more than 11 kilos despite her condition and placed on unpaid leave after being injured - and employees with disabilities.
Tesla accused of segregationist practices
These lawsuits are reminiscent of those filed against Tesla (another group actively fighting against the emergence of unions in its factories) on the opposite coast of the United States. Elon Musk's company has to defend itself against accusations of racial discrimination - a Californian state agency even denounced the company's “segregationist” practices - and sexual harassment.
Standard & Poor's has just excluded Tesla from its S&P 500 ESG index, used by investors to evaluate the social and environmental commitments of large companies, among other reasons. “ESG is a scam,” Elon Musk denounced on May 18th, 2022, on Twitter:
It will probably take more than that to restore the social image of the kings of American Tech, who may have to come to terms with the fact that the social situation is about to change in America.