Your Boss Might Tell You Who To Vote For This Year [Scary Reality]
COMMENTARY | Until 2010 it was illegal for employers to push employees towards a certain political candidate. 2010 was the year in which the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision was handed down, overturning the law which banned employers from talking about political opinions with their employees.
Since that time many employees have reported feeling “threatened” to vote for the party that aligns with their employers business philosophies.
The most recent example of employer “tampering” came last week when it was revealed that several companies, including Koch Industries, sent out letters urging employees to vote “the right way” or face possible problems with their future employment. While employers can not threaten an employees job, the undertones of their statements can not be understated.
Employers of course claim to be “educating” their employees, yet many “facts” are opinions and many opinions are extremely biased.
In many cases employers have began to implement scare tactics. For example, WFMY, a local North Carolina CBS affiliate, revealed the case of a Taco Bell franchise owner who told his employees that voting for Obama would cut down on work hours. The employer specifically explained to those employees that the President’s health care initiative would raise health care costs and leave less money for employee paychecks.
Sadly employees are rarely able to escape this type of political pandering as memos are distributed and in some cases notices are attached to an employees paycheck, a reminder that their employer controls their financial destiny and hopes to see them “do the right thing” by voting for their candidate of choice.
This isn’t just a practice being implemented by employers, it was actually endorsed this year by Mitt Romney who told employers they should “make it very clear to your employees what you believe is in the best interest of your enterprise and therefore their job and their future in the upcoming election.”
The problem with this type of pandering isn’t that employers have an opinion, it is the simple fact that GOP members listen to Romney’s statement and take it as his urging to push employees to vote for the Republican candidate.
As the Denver Business Journal points out the problem with this practice is two fold. First, employees feel discouraged from talking about their own political views with potential voters within their company, second, surveys have shown that employees view their employers as credible sources of information.
The rhetoric in support of employer voting requests is simple, if labor unions can try to push voters in one direction, employers should be able to push them in a different direction.
While employers can not demand an employee vote a certain way, specifically because employee voting records are kept private, there is no denying that threats against jobs should one man be elected over another borders on improper coercion on behalf of employers.
On the other hand employees may feel threatened when expressing their freedom of speech. For example would you place a “Vote Obama” bumper stick on your vehicle or in the front lawn of your home if your employer has made veiled threats against your future employment if you failed to vote for Mitt Romney?
What might be most scary about the power of employers is that they often have the facts incorrect. Lest we forget a Republican or a Democrat boss likely receives their information from partisan sources. An employer watching Fox News or CNN is not likely to provide an unbiased view of the facts to employees. As a trusted source for many employees what we are left with is biased voting responses based on the personal goals of the company and not of the people.
Employers hold a lot of power in the 2012 Presidential Elections and that my friends is a scary reality.
The views expressed in this commentary reflect the views and opinions of the writer and are not necessarily the views shared by Inquisitr.com and the rest of the Inquisitr writers staff.
Tags : 2012 elections, Bosses Telling Employees How To Vote, presidential elections, voting
Posted: October 28, 2012
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Oct 28, 2012
They can yack whatever they want to, but your vote is private and they will never know. VOTE for who(m) you want.
Oct 28, 2012
First of all, it is a fact that the policies of the government have a HUGE impact on business and if a particular candidate would be good for the business for which you work, that same candidate would, by default, be good for you, regardless of the political opinions of your boss. As an employed person I would want to know as much as I could how the projected policies of the candidates would affect the business that employs me. Secondly, the candidate who has policies that will NOT be good for the business that employs you is certainly NOT going to tell you that b/c then you'd be a fool to vote for him/her so it is reasonable that the one who would benefit your company would be the one to inform you. Thirdly, the unions are long time a users of tactics of intimidation and that is why they suspect businesses motives. No matter how you slice it folks, business is not like government….it must make a profit and operate in the black or it goes away for good. If we had a President that had a inkling how to run a business, he might be able to inform his party and get the nation's budget in order or at least on the right track.
Oct 28, 2012
I think it doesn't matter because the boss can not see your vote. On the other hand one party is in support of business and putting people to work and the other is in support of paying people a meager bit of money to stay home and be lazy.
Which party will perpetuate our country.
Oct 28, 2012
And which party WANTS you to stay home and be lazy? YOUR CRAZY people staying home doesn't help anything and not one party wants that. There is one party that does want to give you a hand up if you get layed off, it's hard to find a replacment job these days it happened to me and the Republican party left me dangling with no unemployment for two weeks while they went on their Independence day vacation, nothing to eat for two weeks is hard espeacially when you have a 9 year old to feed. God I Am So Sick Of People Like You!
Oct 28, 2012
The Unions have doing this for decades! Where the f**k was this column then?
Oct 28, 2012
IF a boss ever told me who to vote for, I would laugh in his or her face. If they fired me I would relieve my bowels in the middle of the establishment.
Oct 28, 2012
Debbie Booth Lazzara if you'd go to church you'd have people to help you. There is NOTHNG in the Constitution of These United States that says we HAVE to help anyone else. The Republican party left you Dangling? That right there is a stupid remark. They don't have a thing to do with your unemployment. I am sick of people like you. Whining and crying and blaming people that aren't to blame for your stupidity.
Oct 28, 2012
Robin Bennington gets the facts straight, that party you feel wants people to support people to stay home which you mean president Obama is not true. So if you want to spill ignorant info make sure it's actually accurate. You're no better than the people this article is talking about.
Oct 29, 2012
Makes too much sense – some completely don't get it.
Oct 29, 2012
the unions have done this for years of course they also give entitlements by allowing oeople to keep their jobs no matter how bad, lazy or insubordinate they may be where us in the private work industry work more hours with less vacation , higher insurance costs and can literally be fored for no reasons if you live in a right for work state so dont even give me this crap of being told how to vote when union workers arevalways told what to do in elections or they will lose their cushions!
Oct 29, 2012
Absolutely true. I am a member of the UAW and believe it's great to have an organization backing up the workers, especially when it comes to safety in the workplace and unfair labor practices.
Having said that, I also hate the fact that our union dues are spent to endorse Obama and every member is subjected to a constant barrage of propaganda telling all union members to vote for him. I can not stand that lying, arrogant, divisive jerk…yet the UAW spends MY money to promote his reelection. Something terribly wrong there.
Oct 29, 2012
Debbie Booth Lazzara – If you were "Left hanging" it was by the State of Oklahoma…unemployment benefits are run by the states. That doesn't have anything to do with the Republican Party. "god I am so sick of people like YOU" …who don't have a clue what they're talking about but always have something to say.
Oct 29, 2012
Lawrence behave yourself
Oct 29, 2012
Robin, what the hell are you talking about? I don't understand people like you. You are giving us advice from the hallowed halls of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill? Let's see how much "support" you will have for "the other party" when they get rid of the Department of Education, which your employer aggressively lobbies for as much government funding that is available. Let's see what happens when people realize that paying you and your ilk 60,000$ year to support your " I work hard for the money" ass. Oh yeah. . . just so you know, I am a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I will certainly keep you in mind when the University comes calling for donations from moneyed alumni such as myself, Put your "Risk Management" skills to that math problem!
Oct 29, 2012
You are clueless!!!! Sure hope Mitt Romney and Bain Capital dont own your company or should I just a Rosetta stone in the mail for you. Seriously tho, if you dont know what you are talking about you shouldn't talk
Oct 29, 2012
BTW nobody tells me who to vote for or what to do no matter where I live and you are mis guided if you for one minute think union workers are not smart enough to know who to vote for. Come on Tootie,you just called alot of people in the middle class overpaid(haha), lazy and unable to make informed decisions. So not true and shame on you!!!!!!!!!
Oct 29, 2012
Also, your buddy Peyton Manning is in a UNION, is he lazy and stupid???
Oct 29, 2012
No there's nothing in the constitution that says anyone has to help anyone else. But we should do it because we're one nation under GOD remember??? Funny how the Republican party brings in religion when it's convenient for them, but as soon as someone needs help it's every man for himself. Thank God we still have a real christian party, Democrat!
Oct 29, 2012
one party doesn't want to pay taxes(even when their the lowest in decades) and don't want to pay fair wages or give more then part time to most people while the other wants to see needy worker/familes, make it and help restore middle class which one shall I vote for?
Oct 29, 2012
Linda S Shepherd why are you degrading people are you a bully like romney?
Oct 29, 2012
The difference being, Brian, that the unions don't have the power to cut down on your hours or even dismiss you for choosing the 'wrong' candidate.