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Hundreds of AT&T Wireless Workers and Supporters Plan To Protest at iPhone 8 Launch at Apple HQ
Hundreds of AT&T wireless workers and members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) will protest outside the launch of the iPhone 8 at Apple HQ on Tuesday, we were told. "Marking the start of a critical sales period that's expected to bring in billions for the telecom giant, workers are calling out AT&T's pay cuts for its retail employees and the company's rampant outsourcing and offshoring that undermine their job security and ability to provide quality customer service," the Communications Workers of America said in a press statement. Over the years, AT&T has increasingly handed over the operations of its retail operations to third-party dealers that now represent over 60 percent of all AT&T branded stores. On top of this, AT&T retail employees allege that they are seeing their pay decline by thousands of dollars because the company manipulates their commission structure.
Apple sets pricing on their phones especially to prevent one seller to undercut another. (They're still expensive but get lots with them, IMO).
In my view, AT&T workers protesting at Apple is just retarded (in the most demeaning way you can take it). It's not Apple's fault AT&T workers are underpaid.
So, AT&T employees are protesting AT&T's business practices. Nothing they're protesting has anything to do with the iPhone 8 or Apple at large. Nonetheless, they're protesting at the launch of the new iPhone, simply because they know that places like Slashdot can't resist posting clickbait articles that mention Apple in the headline, thus bringing attention to their cause, despite the fact that nothing they're doing has anything to do with Apple.
Even worse, it looks like Slashdot is "breaking" this news, since I don't see a link or article mentioned anywhere, so that means that Slashdot is solely responsible for authoring the headline. Shame on you.
I still don't see why the AT&T workers would feel this is Apples fault though.
It's not about 'fault.' It's about eyeballs. They're trying to hijack an Apple product launch and get some media attention.
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
Yeah, makes no sense to me for them to protest Apple...seems they should be protesting in from of ATT stores, since they are the ones they have the beef against....?
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
It's simple marketing, really. AT&T is treating their employees just like they treat their customers: not listening to them. Apple is likely to enact some corporate NIMBY-ism and tell AT&T to deal with it the eyesore of a protest.
The protesters get publicity. A protest of the iPhone launch will get a LOT more press than protesting outside of some random AT&T store. Even if Apple does nothing, the story still reached a greater audience this way and we're now aware of the situation.
The protest hasn't even happened yet and this strategy is paying dividends. Looks like a 100% win so far.
Work sucked, until it became unemployment, when it became slightly more tolerable. -Tet