Fears of Voter Intimidation in the Workplace As Election Day Nears
From NBC News
Koch brothers to workers: Vote for Romney or ‘suffer the consequences’
In an email obtained exclusively by Up w/ Chris Hayes, the CEO of Florida-based software firm ASG asks his over 1,000 employees to vote for Mitt Romney for president, and suggests their jobs may be at stake if Romney doesn’t win.
By Martha C. White
As a contentious election season enters its final weeks, a flurry of communication from corporate leaders to rank-and-file workers strongly implies that voting for Obama could imperil their jobs and their financial stability.
Employees of a paper company owned by the outspoken billionaire Koch brothers received a mailing warning that they could “suffer the consequences, including higher gasoline prices, runaway inflation, and other ills” if they voted for candidates not supported by Koch-owned companies or its political fund-raising arm.
The company also provided workers with a list of those candidates it supports. At the top: Mitt Romney, according to media outlet In These Times, which broke the story. “The packet also included an anti-Obama editorial by Charles Koch and a pro-Romney editorial by David Koch,” it said.
“This is in no way an attempt to ‘intimidate’ employees,” Greg Guest, senior director of corporate communications at Georgia-Pacific, said in a statement on the site kochfacts.com.
“It’s free speech. On the other hand, while it’s maybe not directly intended to be intimidating, it can be intimidating,” said Izzy Kushner, president of consulting firm HR Impact and president of the Human Resources Association of New York.
Although the Koch brothers are known for their outspoken support of the GOP, “Our support is not based on party affiliation, and we support both Republicans and Democrats who support market-based policies and solutions,” Guest’s statement said.
“In the flyer sent to Oregon employees, all 14 Koch-backed state candidates were Republicans,” In These Times reported. A request for examples of Democratic candidates included on the list of Koch-supported candidates was not answered by press time.
In recent days, other reports have surfaced of company heads telling workers to vote for Romney in the upcoming election,
Last week, owner of Westgate Resorts David Siegel sent workers a pro-Romney email that said, “If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company … I will be forced to cut back. This means fewer jobs, less benefits and certainly less opportunity for everyone.”
MSNBC program Up w/ Chris Hayes reported Sunday on a leaked email from Arthur Allen, president and CEO of ASG Software Solutions, that took a similar tone. “If the US re-elects President Obama, our chances of staying independent are slim to none. … I don’t want to hear any complaints regarding the fallout that will most likely come,” he wrote. The company did not respond to the program’s request for comment.
And two weeks ago, in a letter to employees obtained by Michigan media outlet MLive.com, president and CEO of auto-parts manufacturer Lacks Enterprises Richard Lacks warned workers that sticking with the current administration would hurt them. “The more government takes the less there will be available to spread around to the working people of this company,” he wrote in reference to “talk of additional tax increases.”
“It is important that in November you vote to improve your standard of living and that will be through smaller government and less government,” he said.
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