‌Employees at Apple in France are going on strike on Friday, a day ahead of the launch of the company's new iPhone.

‌The dispute, which will continue into Saturday, is over pay and conditions, with employees of the tech giant also asking for an end to a hiring freeze.‌ The unions called for two days of industrial action at all 20 Apple stores in France.

‌As part of annual negotiations, four unions representing workers at the tech giant want a 7 percent increase in pay for all employees to offset inflation.

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‌The CGT, one of the leading unions in the country, said the strike was going ahead because "the management decided to ignore our perfectly legitimate demands and concerns."

‌The walkout by workers comes ahead of the launch of the new iPhone 15 in French stores on September 23.

‌"The aim is not to blockade the shops, but to make people, both management and the general public, aware of the problem," Albin Voulfow, CFDT union delegate for Apple Retail France, told French news agency AFP.

‌The CFDT representative admitted that customers could experience a "trickle-down effect" of the walkout over the two days.

The industrial action is just the latest headache for Apple's French operations.

‌The strike over pay is being held one week after the French government ordered a suspension of sales of Apple's iPhone 12 handsets.‌ That came after tests which French ministers said found breaches of radiation exposure limits.

‌The French consumer watchdog said it would send its findings to regulators in other EU member states.‌ Apple disagreed with the decision, saying the iPhone 12 was certified by multiple international bodies as compliant with global standards.

But on September 15, the U.S. firm pledged to upgrade the software for the iPhone 12.

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