Apple is now accelerating its annual performance-based pay increases for retail and corporate team members by three months, according to an email to employees. The company is contending with unionisation efforts in several parts of the US, including Georgia, Maryland, New York and Kentucky. In a recent video message to employees, Apple’s retail chief warned “We have a relationship that is based on an open and collaborative and direct engagement,” and “I worry about what it would mean to put another organisation in the middle of our relationship.”

Companies often announce improvements while battling unionization campaigns, and by doing so may interfere with employees’ free choice, Seattle University labor law professor Charlotte Garden said in an email. “The risk is that workers perceive that keeping the improvements is contingent on voting against union representation, and that if they vote for the union, the company will play hardball.”

US tech companies are battling a shortage of talent after many chose flexible options or left the workforce during the pandemic. Software maker Microsoft Corp. is among those spending more aggressively to stay competitive, planning to nearly double its budget for salary increases this year in an effort to retain employees.

Inflation is also playing a role in driving up pay expectations, with US consumer prices rising an annual 8.3% in April, according to government data released Wednesday.

Apple has approximately 154,000 full-time or equivalent employees, according to regulatory filings. Its starting wage is comfortably above the US nationwide minimum, which has been $7.25 since 2009; New York City’s wage floor is $15. Like other leading tech firms, the company has so far operated without a formal worker organization, however successful moves to unionize at a New York Amazon.com Inc. warehouse and Starbucks Corp. cafes across the country have given impetus to new campaigns. BM