Apple Workers in France Stage Strike Over Work Conditions on iPhone 15 Launch Day 

Apple France workers on strike gather in front of the Apple Store near Place de l'Opera during a protest to demand higher pay and better benefits on the day Apple launches its iPhone 15, in Paris, France, September 22, 2023. (Reuters)
Apple France workers on strike gather in front of the Apple Store near Place de l'Opera during a protest to demand higher pay and better benefits on the day Apple launches its iPhone 15, in Paris, France, September 22, 2023. (Reuters)
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Apple Workers in France Stage Strike Over Work Conditions on iPhone 15 Launch Day 

Apple France workers on strike gather in front of the Apple Store near Place de l'Opera during a protest to demand higher pay and better benefits on the day Apple launches its iPhone 15, in Paris, France, September 22, 2023. (Reuters)
Apple France workers on strike gather in front of the Apple Store near Place de l'Opera during a protest to demand higher pay and better benefits on the day Apple launches its iPhone 15, in Paris, France, September 22, 2023. (Reuters)

Workers at Apple stores in France began a nationwide strike over pay and working conditions on Friday in a protest designed to coincide with the launch of the iPhone 15.

It is the latest headache for the tech giant in France after it was forced to stop selling its iPhone 12 model earlier this month for above-threshold radiation. Apple disputes the findings of the French watchdog.

About 30 staff were picketing outside the company's store in Opera in central Paris, one of three in the French capital, a few meters away from a line of about 40 customers waiting in the rain to enter the shop.

"We are still the people who make Apple's wealth, and therefore I think that we deserve a little more honorable treatment than what we are given today," said Anais Durel, a 36-year-old who has worked for Apple for 10 years.

Apple unions including CGT, Unsa, CFDT and Cidre-CFTC, which also plan to strike on Saturday, have asked for a 7% wage increase to compensate for inflation, and an end to a months-long hiring freeze. Management did not want to offer more than a 4.5% hike, union officials said.

"Inflation is still quite nasty. There are a lot of employees who are experiencing difficulties," said Tarek, a CGT union leader who declined to give his last name.

"The goal is not at all to block sales of the iPhone, the goal is really to bring awareness to this situation," he added.

Staff at an Apple store in Barcelona, where about 250 people were queuing to enter the store on Friday morning, were set to join colleagues in France in protesting against working conditions.

About 20 workers will set up an information picket outside the store on Paseo de Gracia in central Barcelona at midday, Pablo Paredes, leader of the CNT Apple union, told Reuters.

Paredes said the workers aim to highlight poor working conditions including contracts which do not compensate them for working at weekends or at night.

CNT is a minority union and only active in one of Barcelona's two stores. The union has not yet managed to secure a meeting with the company to lodge its complaints, Paredes said.

"We have been talking since August to our colleagues on strike in France. In Spain, unlike them, not all the unions have agreed to strike," Paredes said.



‘Assassin’s Creed’ Maker Ubisoft Says Regularly Reviews Options after Buyout Report

This photograph taken on February 13, 2024, shows logo of Ubisoft video firm company adorn the main entrance of the company, where a strike call is planned on February 14, 2024, in Montpellier, south of France. (AFP)
This photograph taken on February 13, 2024, shows logo of Ubisoft video firm company adorn the main entrance of the company, where a strike call is planned on February 14, 2024, in Montpellier, south of France. (AFP)
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‘Assassin’s Creed’ Maker Ubisoft Says Regularly Reviews Options after Buyout Report

This photograph taken on February 13, 2024, shows logo of Ubisoft video firm company adorn the main entrance of the company, where a strike call is planned on February 14, 2024, in Montpellier, south of France. (AFP)
This photograph taken on February 13, 2024, shows logo of Ubisoft video firm company adorn the main entrance of the company, where a strike call is planned on February 14, 2024, in Montpellier, south of France. (AFP)

Ubisoft, the maker of the "Assassin's Creed", "Far Cry" and "Watch Dogs" video games, said on Monday it regularly reviewed "all its strategic options", but declined further comment on a recent report of buyout interest.

France's largest video games maker has long been seen as a takeover target and has lost half of its stock market value over the last twelve months. It has been plagued by delays and the underperformance of some of its key titles.

Ubisoft said in a statement that it would inform the market if and when appropriate. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment further when asked by Reuters whether the company had received any approach from potential bidders.

Monday's statement followed a report last week by Bloomberg News that Ubisoft's founding family, the Guillemots, and Chinese tech giant Tencent, were considering a buyout.

Shares in Ubisoft initially rose by up to 6% on Monday after the statement, topping the SBF 120 index, but reversed course and were down 1.8% at 0905 GMT.

The Guillemot family and Tencent together hold close to 25% of Ubisoft's share capital, LSEG data shows, after a deal in 2022 that saw the Chinese group acquire close to half of the Guillemots' holding.

The move capped a difficult period at Ubisoft, marked by a succession of delays of new video games and management changes.

Ubisoft's stock price slipped further last month after weaker-than-expected quarterly sales.

An underwhelming start for its new game "Star Wars Outlaws" followed the postponement of the launch of "Assassin’s Creed Shadows" by three months to February.

Ubisoft had hoped the two games would help turn around its performance as it implements cost cuts to manage its debt.