Earlier this month, the staff at Munich, Germany's Apple Store Rosenstraße formed a "Betriebsrat" [Google translate] -- an official labor council that focuses on the working conditions within the store.

IFO Apple Store:

It’s the first such council within Apple’s Germany stores... and will deal with issues such as routine overtime, sales pressure from management, high noise levels within the store, and other health and safety matters... Employees will eventually expand the councils to all eight Apple stores in Germany.

betriebsrat
A tipster sent us this photo from within the store, showing the office the Betriebsrat has taken within the store. The office, according to the tipster, originally belonged to the Store Leader. The iPad to the right of the entrance says "bitte rein kommen!" which translates to "please come in!"

The picture appears legitimate, with the circular sign on the door matching those within other Apple Stores we've seen, and the GPS data within the photo matches the location of the Apple Store Rosenstraße in Munich. We have removed the data from the picture for privacy reasons.

Last year, it was reported that Apple Store managers were participating in "union awareness" training, covering the legal dos and don'ts of dealing with unions. While not an actual employee union, the betriebsrat is a legally protected entity in Germany.

Top Rated Comments

jayhawk11 Avatar
178 months ago
Good. Retail staff get treated like crap compared to their corporate counterparts.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JD92 Avatar
178 months ago
Great news. Anyone who's worked in both a unionised and non-unionised retail environment will know how big a difference a union makes.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dynamojoe Avatar
178 months ago
WTF, a door sign with a iPad... is obviously excessive.

On the upside, maybe one can play Angry Birds while waiting outside.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mad-B-One Avatar
178 months ago
If I remember German law correctly...

...if a company has more than 18 full-time employees, they have to have one full-time worker councilman. Also, it is illegal to block unions or employees councils from forming. Management has no access to meetings without invitation of these meetings (usually held monthly with all staff) and if you are a German Incorporated, one of the board members has to be a councilman if you have a certain number of employees.

Now, you might see this as way too intrusive, but the reality of things is that having your workers closely involved in management makes them actually support the company better in hard times. The employees council is informed about the numbers this way and if the only thing saving the company is cuts in pay or unpaid overtime, they might even agree to that to save jobs. Sure, it is a bit more complex with unions involved etc. but if you look on which countries came well through the last crisis, Germany is one of them. And if you thing that the influence of workers in bigger companies will lead to a salery hike, compare what a well-trained and skilled car manufacturer worker makes in Germany to hte one in the US: Last I read was less than 60% of the US worker. The trade off is more secure jobs, a career path, and a lot of social services (such as health insurance including family with no deductible and no cap, vision, and dental included).

If you think this all comes from Socialism, you are wrong. Most basics of the social laws were formed under the Emperor in 1872/73 and they survived 2 world wars.

By the way, these regulations brought down company ventures like WalMart who tried to push their ideology into a German substity and failed after class action law suits for violating privacy laws.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mike Oxard Avatar
178 months ago
Last time I was in that store I snapped a picture of the stair case. Nothing out of the ordinary, the same apple stairs you see at most stores and two "guards" made me delete it from my camera. They weren't store employee's, they were dressed completely different.

That's certainly illegal in Australia and the US. Not sure about Germany. In any case it's pretty irrelevant as it would be easily recovered in a few minutes using freeware.
Or PhotoStream!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JoeG4 Avatar
178 months ago
Cool. Funny note, I've seen digital door signs used before (they use them for the meeting rooms in my uni's community building).. just not that often. Funny, a piece of paper would have sufficed eh? XD
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iOS 26.1 Beta Liquid Glass Battery Drain Test: Tinted vs Clear Mode

Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing. Test Settings I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
ios 26 digital id passport wallet

Apple Says U.S. Passport Feature on iPhone is Coming Soon

Monday October 27, 2025 7:41 am PDT by
You will "soon" be able to add a digital version of your U.S. passport to your iPhone, according to Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. Bailey reiterated that the feature is coming soon during her keynote at the Money20/20 USA conference in Las Vegas on Sunday. On its iOS 26 page, Apple says the delayed feature will be "coming later this year." Apple's...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

iPhone XX? 6 Features Rumored for Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone

Monday October 27, 2025 4:01 pm PDT by
For the 10th anniversary iPhone that came out in 2017, Apple introduced the iPhone X with Face ID, notch, and minimized bezels, providing more display space than ever before. The 20th iPhone anniversary is approaching and Apple wants to take the iPhone X design even further. We're two years away from the 2027 iPhone, but it's tough for Apple to keep major changes under wraps. We've rounded...
macos tahoe

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for macOS Tahoe 26.1

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of macOS Tahoe 26.1, which means the update will likely see a public launch next week. The release candidate includes notes on what's in the update, so we have a full picture of the new features that Apple has included. macOS Tahoe 26.1 adds AutoMix support over AirPlay, improved FaceTime audio...