Apple Workers Collecting Stories of Abuse, Injustice in Workplace

A group of Apple workers has announced a campaign to improve working conditions within the company. 

On Monday, company employees launched a Twitter account called Apple Workers to gather stories from colleagues about workplace issues such as "persistent patterns of racism, sexism, inequity, discrimination, intimidation, suppression, coercion, abuse, unfair punishment, and unchecked privilege."

The account links to a website that contains the campaign's announcement as well as a link to join it. 

"We've exhausted all internal avenues. We've talked with our leadership. We've gone to the People team. We've escalated through Business Conduct. Nothing has changed," the announcement read. "It's time to Think Different."

"Connect with us to share your own experience, stay informed, or unite in solidarity with other current or former Apple workers. United, we can collaborate to iterate a healthier workplace," the announcement continued. "We are working together to craft a statement on our behalf, reflecting our stories and an outline of changes we expect to see Apple make." 

The site also links to a "Wage Transparency Survey," an initiative led by Cher Scarlett, an Apple employee who has recently organized an internal survey to find out if there are wage gaps inside the company. 

"Apple colleagues of all types - we are gathering in solidarity to push Apple to change internally," Scarlett wrote on Twitter.

Scarlett did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The Apple employees are organizing in part on Discord channel, according to the person who runs the channel, who goes by Fudge. The person described themselves as a former ​​Apple Authorized Service Providers employee, and asked to remain anonymous. 

"I'm just lending my platform as a helping hand towards that account's cause," Fudge told Motherboard in an online chat. "The purpose of it is exactly what it says on the main page; to be able to aggregate anonymous stories of abuse, misconduct, and other forms of problematic behaviors within Apple as a means to try and bring about some overall positive change for everyone else."

Fudge said that the Discord channel has around 200 current and former employees.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The campaign is the latest development that shows a rising interest in labor organizing within the company. Earlier this month, current Apple employee Ashley Gjøvik said she was put on leave after she complained about sexism inside the company on Twitter. In May, Apple fired Antonio Garcia Martinez, an employee who was accused of expressing misogynistic views in a book he wrote about Silicon Valley after colleagues called for an investigation in a petition.

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