Quelle surprise! While Apple (AAPL) fans from around the globe are lining up to get their hands on the new iPhone 5, the citizens of France are putting their own unique cultural spin on things by going on strike to protest Apple’s labor practices. Reuters reports that “disgruntled employees and former retailers” have been accosting Apple fans waiting in line at Apple’s flagship Paris store to get the iPhone 5 on Friday, including “three store employees striking to protest against Apple’s refusal to offer perks such as meal vouchers and a yearly bonus of an extra one month’s salary that are standard for many French workers.”
Things could have been worse for Apple, however, as the union representing Apple retail employees had originally called for every employee in the store to strike, so the fact that only three joined the march is something of a reprieve.
“We want the same benefits of the employees of the big French companies,” Thomas Bordage, shop steward of the union told Reuters. “All we got was a thank you note from [Apple CEO] Tim Cook telling us we’re great.”