The world’s most valuable company, Apple, has been accused of trying to rush through a pay deal for 4000 Australian staff, mostly in retail stores, that would result in a real wage cut and let it roster store clerks on for up to 60 hours in a week without overtime.

Apple has been paying store staff under an expired agreement since 2018, but unions claim it is now setting rapid deadlines for its proposed new deal, which was unveiled only in early August.

Apple’s labour relations are in the spotlight as the company faces an international unionisation drive. Workers at one of its stores in Maryland voted to join a union in June, the first time this has happened in the US in the company’s history. A collective of US-based Apple employees operating under the banner of Apple Together have also emerged to challenge the company, arguing it has fallen short of its ideals on issues such as working from home.

Australian Apple employees, operating under the same name, are now holding briefings with the Australian Services Union and the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union.

A third union, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, has filed a claim in conjunction with the ASU in the national industrial tribunal, alleging that Apple’s practices mean it is not bargaining in good faith to strike a pay deal with its staff.

In documents filed with the Fair Work Commission, the association accuses Apple of unlawfully denying entry to one of its stores to officials hoping to speak with staff, blocking a request for more time to consult with members and demanding claims from the union by August 19.

SDA national secretary Gerard Dwyer accused Apple of “trying to sneak through an agreement” that would send workers backwards while enjoying an image as a prestige firm. Apple’s proposed deal has 2.5 per cent annual minimum pay rises, while inflation was at 6.1 per cent in the June quarter.

“With inflation above six per cent and rising, this would see Apple employees already struggling with the cost of living finding it even more difficult to pay for food, fuel, shelter and the other essentials of life,” Dwyer said in a statement. “For a company that is making at least $11 billion in profits annually from its Australian operations, its behaviour is simply un-Australian.”

A spokesman for the $US2.7 trillion ($3.9 trillion) company did not specifically address the unions’ accusations but rejected claims of a rushed process in a general statement that said the company valued its team of nearly 4000 people in Australia.