Apple workers in Australia go on Christmas strike

Apple workers in Australia have begun a Christmas strike demanding improved working conditions and higher wages. According to a Reuters report, Apple employees in Australia are set to strike today demanding improved working conditions and higher wages, a development that could hurt Apple’s Christmas and New Year sales. Australia’s Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) announced this month that it would begin a strike at 3pm local time at all Apple stores in the country on December 23 and continue the strike until Christmas Eve. The strike in Australia comes shortly after workers at Apple’s main iPhone factory in China protested overly strict coronavirus measures and mismanagement of restrictions at the factory, threatening to disrupt production. The RAFFWU, which is leading the strike, claims that the company has denied workers “weekend leave, consecutive days off, fixed duty rosters, fixed working days, 12-hour breaks between shifts and overtime pay” due to an agreement signed eight years ago.