Apple reaffirms employees’ right to talk about working conditions, in a victory for the #AppletToo movement
“Apple is deeply committed to providing employees with a workplace where they feel safe, respected and inspired to do their best,” the company said in a statement posted on an internal employee portal, obtained by CNN Business. “Our policy does not restrict employees from talking freely about pay, hours or working conditions.”
Apple did not respond to requests for comment on this article.
Two Apple employees, Janneke Parrish and Cher Scarlett, started #AppleToo in August to help the company’s workers “organize and protect ourselves,” according to the movement’s website. They encouraged employees to share stories of problems they may have encountered, including incidents of racism, sexism and discrimination, to outline “changes we expect to see Apple make.”
Parrish told CNN Business last month that they received hundreds of reports from employees over the course of weeks about alleged incidents “ranging from sexism and old age to revelations about rape and suicide,” she said.
Friday’s statement from Apple is a victory for the #AppleToo movement, Parrish told CNN Business.
“This is something we have wanted Apple to communicate for the entire #AppleToo,” Parrish said. “It’s definitely not the end of the road, but it’s a very big first step and it shows what workers who speak in unison can achieve.”
She added that a common theme in the stories that employees have submitted to #AppleToo is that workers do not know they are allowed to talk up when problems occur.
The company’s recent statement will “help end a systemic culture of silence around our work culture and fair pay,” she said.
