All 17 Italian Apple stores hit by strike on iPhone 18 Pro launch day

The shop workers in Italy waited until their busiest day of the year to stop working. On Friday, the day the iPhone 18 Pro was launched worldwide, all 17 Apple stores in Italy went on strike.

“For Apple as a company, image is very important,” Nicholas Pezze, a Filcams CGIL representative, told Reuters.

“As unions, we thought this would be the right day to stage an image of protest from the workers we represent.”

Just a week earlier, Filcams CGIL, Fisascat CISL, and Uiltucs made their voices heard. Representing over 1,600 Apple Retail Italia employees across 17 stores, these unions staged pickets at the flagship locations on Piazza Liberty in Milan and Via del Corso in Rome.

The unions are focused on changing the structure of work, not just pay. They seek a hiring plan, the conversion of fixed-term contracts into permanent roles, and the freedom for part-time staff to take on more hours if they choose.

Despite these requests, they say the company responded by offering even more fixed-term contracts, some lasting nearly seven months.

Filcams CGIL reports that workloads have climbed while staffing levels remain stubbornly low. At the same time, productivity targets have grown tougher due to changes in store procedures.

The union argues that booming sales and profits should not come at the cost of increased pressure on staff. These concerns are now central to the ongoing talks to renew the company agreement for all 1,600 employees.

The strike centers on renewing the company agreement covering staffing, shifts, contract types, and pay.

Negotiations are ongoing, so the strike is part of the process, not a break from talks, which is why it happened now rather than during earlier product launches.

Apple told Reuters that its stores would “operate normally” and be “open today,” and mentioned compensation and benefits it described as industry-leading, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, as well as mental health support.

When Apple Store staff in France walked out during the iPhone 15 launch, they, too, picked the moment for maximum impact.

In Italy, the iPhone 18 Pro comes with a €1,489 price tag, and Apple’s new foldable phone, the Duo, hits shelves on October 23. Yet the very staff selling these coveted devices are still fighting for permanent contracts.