Any ideas for ways to respond to the CEOs who fire workers as petty revenge for an Obama victory?

[Generic Other]

When I first started hearing that bosses had threatened to fire workers if Obama won, I immediately wondered where they all got their marching orders.

I was enraged and wanted to boycott them. Proud2blibKansan asked how I planned to boycott a coal company clearly, bursting my balloon.

Others pointed out that boycotts would hurt workers.

So it is a question of what is the best strategy to get to the CEO and maybe even in a way that the workers will be able to secretly enjoy. I thought about the time DU filled a room with hundreds of dozens of roses for Helen Thomas. Maybe CEOs who play this game with their workers need to receive similar barrages of goods -- just not roses. How about lumps of coal, for example? All mailed to the CEOs.

Something cheap, and easy and legal that expresses our displeasure. Something that inundates the company so that all of the workers know we are on their side.

Any ideas?

[Generic Other]

1. My husband said Googlebomb

Is that possible?

[mysuzuki2]

2. We need do nothing.

If they are firing people they need to do the job, their quality of service will suffer. This will cause them to either lose business or hire the people back. It is the Invisible Hand of Adam Smith slapping them in the face.

[Generic Other]

5. I am thinking of the workers

Adam Smith's invisible hand slaps them hard too. I don't want to do that. I want to aim my barbs. I want to stand with my fellow workers who are being abused.

[magical thyme]

17. if the business provides a needed service or product, boycotts aid competitors

who (hopefully) aren't jerks. So it may temporarily increase the pain for employees of asshats, but if the business moves enough the jobs will follow along with it.

I think most employees recognize they are alone in the voting booth and have no obligation to tell their employer who they honestly voted for. Some of them may well resent the threat. They also know better than to wear Obama clothes, pins, etc. to work.

Any business that fires employees due to the result of an election is not going to last anyway. You hire and fire based on current business needs, not a scenario you fear may come about in a year or two.

I suspect the businesses that threatened and then actually fired already planned to fire and just used the election as an excuse.

[Generic Other]

20. I am visualizing your scenario

The workers all in their cubicles suddenly jump on their desks and rip off their shirts and ties to reveal Obama shirts as the boss has a tizzy fit! They do a few bumps and grinds then push the CEO into a chair and wheel him out to the dumpster and tip him in!

What music should they dance to?

[iemitsu]

62. When I read the CEO's reasoning behind firing the employees,

I thought I detected, somewhere between the lines, that the employees were black.
The news said all black people voted for Obama because they are racist (Colin Powell as proof) so black employees must have voted that way.
It seems, that these employees need to be taught that voting for their own interests is actually voting against their interests.
It may be a symptom of the republican world view's death throes, for Papa John to respond this way to the election results, but it is ugly behavior, designed to terrorize the employees and their families.
The spirit of the old KKK lives in the person of the Papa John's CEO.

In the above scenario, I would have the workers push the tied boss and his chair off the roof of the building, not just to the dumpster and the background music would be terrifying, Mau Mau, jungle music from an old Hollywood, exploit Africa adventure film (reminiscent of the scene from Birth of a Nation where the new Congress eats chicken in the Senate Chambers).

[MindPilot]

9. I'm in the nothing camp too

I think it is largely BS.

Most layoffs--if they are going to happen--happen this time of year anyway. Been that way for decades.

The employees of those threatening the firings are largely part time so they don't get healthcare benefits.

And of course, as you mentioned, if a business owner needs work done, they are going to hire someone to do it. If they have built a business which is that sensitive to the political winds and tides, they need to re-evaluate the business model.

For the employee's who do get fired because the boss doesn't like a Black man in the White house, the best revenge is going to work for that dickhead's competitor.

[Generic Other]

13. I am sick of doing nothing when the other side acts like that

They count on us to cower in fear. Doing nothing makes me feel like I am sending the message that they accomplished their mission. I could ignore this if it is limited in scope, but if it continues to be thrown in our faces, it seems as if we should a least consider a response.

Otherwise we send the message that we really don't stand together in the face of bullies.

[sibelian]

15. Why cower in fear at your opponent's self-destruction?

I'm more moved to pity. They have clearly lost their last marbles.

[Generic Other]

19. They are trying to make the workers cower in fear

I agree it is pitiful.

[sibelian]

39. Ah, I see.

thank you.

[MindPilot]

21. I disagree. They want a reacation, you're right.

They feed on our fear and panic. We immediately shout "boycott the bastards! Fire off a sternly-worded email! Google carpet-bomb the capitalist pigs!"

If we treat it for what it is, mostly idle threats, and layoffs that would be happening anyway, they don't get their power.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

59. +1000 nt

[Swede Atlanta]

53. It is BS.......

The coal company that announced to its employees on Friday it was laying off 150 workers (somewhere in that neighborhood) because of Obama's war on coal is using that as a smokescreen.

The reality is that coal has been hit hard. Hit hard but not by any Obama action but rather by the free market these CEOs tout is so wonderful. Fracking has enabled natural gas producers to produce much more gas. That has reduced the cost of ng and consumption of ng has increased. Now usually an increase in consumption only goes so far before demand begins to increase prices. So far that has not been the case.

Because more consumers (individuals and businesses) are using ng, demand for coal is going down. As a result the price of coal is going down.

This has nothing to do with a "war on coal" but a CEO trying to find a way to blame Obama for a decision he/she was going to have to take in the face of decreased demand for their product.

They should be looking at ways to make coal cleaner but also how to mine and produce it more cheaply so as to compete with ng.

[Generic Other]

61. What a low tactic

There really is a war on the worker.

[chalky]

3. Is there a website keeping track of these asshats?

I'd like to boycott the ones I can, and keep an eye on the rest.

[Generic Other]

7. Usually we are the ones who do this stuff, Chalky

I will try and start a list here.

[Melinda]

4. Send them copies of your official badge when you sign on locally to remove the GOP house in 2014

Seriously. Everyone should call their local Democratic headquarters and sign on NOW. We know those MofFo's are gonna obstruct us for the next two years, so let's get a jump on it. Let those SOB's firing folks that your involvement is a direct result of the choices they have made, and that their pettiness has consequences.

My 2 cents.

[Generic Other]

12. I don't need no steenkin' badge

to vote those skunks out! (Sorry, couldn't resist). I actually want a badge now.

[Melinda]

27. LOL, you caused my first coffee spittin out-loud guffaw of the morning!

And now that I have the Windex out, it appears it's time I back away from the pc and move on to Saturday morning cleaning, LOL!

Thanks for THAT!!!

[rrely]

6. sure, just simple boycotts

straight up, simple boycotts of the companies that could possibly be patronized -- like maybe not that Murray coal company (I don't buy coal retail), but definitely something like Papa John's or any other company that threatened this before the election...no need to be loud about it, just quietly carry it out.

[Generic Other]

8. Boycotting hurts the workers who have already been threatened and abused

I initially thought boycott was the way, but I want the message sent to the guilty CEOs personally. Maybe a bulletin board of shame with their pictures on it. Their personal bios. They want to be public figures and play dirty politics with workers, threaten to push any of us over a cliff, then workers need to step up and push back.

These bosses are the Akins and Murdoucks of the business world. They shouldn't get away with pulling this crap. We need to find out who gave them their orders.

[Generic Other]

10. Oh and welcome to DU rrely

Glad to see you are ready to fight!!

[rucky]

11. If I were a competitor of one of those companies

I'd be approaching all of that company's customers, saying that our company isn't laying off workers and we're confident we'll do just fine under any president - so maybe you should partner with a more stable company like ours.

[Generic Other]

16. You are right. Competitors must be laughing at their foolishness

The 47% buy stuff too.

For example, the Ace Hardware store in Davis, California. They must have competitors. I wonder what the corporate office thinks of the franchise owner firing employes on such a flimsy pretext?

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/11/09/davis-business-owner-facing-backlash-for-urging-employees-to-vote-for-mitt-romney/

[Generic Other]

23. Davis Ace Hardware owner and president Jennifer Anderson

Davis Ace Hardware owner and president Jennifer Anderson sent a letter to all of her employees last month urging them to “Vote Romney” when they hit the polls Tuesday.

The store owner described her intentions not necessarily as a ploy to alter the election results in Davis, but rather as a process to get her employees thinking about the ramifications of the presidential election on her company.

“It is your choice who you vote for, but I want to share with you my concerns and how I feel it will impact our company,” Anderson wrote, before citing several policies, including Obamacare, that she believes will negatively affect her business and her employees. “If our company is impacted, it will impact each employee.”

But while Anderson did hope to sway the vote of some of her employees, it was not her intention to offend any of them.

http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/city/davis-ace-hardware-president-asks-employees-to-vote-for-romney/

Ace Employee: Don't Boycott Local Business; But Do Voice Your Concerns
http://davis.patch.com/articles/ace-employee-don-t-boycott-local-business-voice-your-concerns-in-other-ways

[Generic Other]

28. Ah here's a copy of her letter

"I am joining other business owners around the nation in asking employees to vote for Romney & Ryan," Anderson begins.

http://davis.patch.com/articles/davis-ace-owner-encourages-employees-to-vote-for-mitt-romney-in-letter-photos#c

[ancianita]

14. Aren't there laws against unjust dismissals based on an employees beliefs or political behavior?

This should be researched, but off the top of my head it seems as if you have a case for wrongful dismissal and being made to work in a hostile environment. My 2 cents.

[Generic Other]

18. Only in blue states maybe

Those stupid right-to-work states have no legal protections for workers.

[HopeHoops]

22. Ban them from government contracts or sales. Take away tax-avoidance for churches that did it.

You need to hit these assholes in the wallet to get their attention.

[Generic Other]

24. Thank you, Hope Hoops

For taking this kind of crap against workers seriously. Ignoring it sends a bad message to struggling workers that the rest of us don't care. Or that labor doesn't have muscle.

I agree it's time we had a national conversation about tax exemptions for churches too.

[HopeHoops]

36. Agreed. Churches that preach about voting Republican (or hide it in their language)...

... do not deserve to be tax exempt. Period. At that point, they crossed the line into the "political advocacy group" category. I've got news for them. If there is a god, he/she doesn't give a shit about your petty political arguments, and Jesus certainly would NOT be a Republican. Jesus is exactly what Republicans are against! He helped and fed the poor and sick. He was against money changers. He was anti-establishment. He brought people together. Religious or not, he was a real person and he did said things (although perhaps without the hokus pokus in the Bible). The GOP would crucify him today if he actually did come back. They don't even believe in what they claim to.

off

[Starry Messenger]

25. I tweeted Trumka about the Murray firings.

Asking if there is something we could do. I agree that we need to. Something like a layoff fund for fired workers, along with a petition to pressure the CEOs doing the firings. It isn't right to let the workers just swing in the breeze. This needs help.

[Generic Other]

38. Your calls to action are wonderfully positive

While I am imagining throwing cream pies in a bunch of CEOs faces!

Thanks for some good suggestions.

[apples and oranges]

26. Media shame the bosses. Very detailed news reports covering the employers' personal life,

including articles about their wealth, homes, affairs, and anything else they can find. Destroy any privacy they may have once enjoyed.

Meanwhile, make some of the newly unemployed famous and offer them better jobs.

[Generic Other]

31. I like how you think!

They deserve public shaming. And that hurts way more than anything else could.

[sufrommich]

29. Thank them for the freshly minted democratic voters. nt

[Generic Other]

32. I wonder if there was profiling in the firings?

You think they knew who was likely voting Obama? You have raised a very interesting question with your observation that former Repubs were among those laid off.

[sufrommich]

66. Like the robber barrons of old,it won't occur to them that

"vote my way or I'll ruin your life" is not a good strategy. People (dem or GOP) will only take so much shit.

[Blue4Texas]

30. The workers will collect unemployment :)

[Generic Other]

34. It's not about money

I am Japanese American. After Pearl Harbor, my community suffered from similar kind of treatment.

[Blue4Texas]

63. You're right

Though the workers that were fired because the president won can receive unemployment, it does not mitigate what translates to agregious abuse. Personally I will boycott "their" services and hopefully we can expose all of those involved who can potentially lose over 50% of their business.

[HooptieWagon]

33. How about helping the fired workers get jobs...

as IRS auditors, DEP and OSHA inspectors ? Heh, heh....

[Generic Other]

35. Now that is poetic revenge X 100

You are a genius!

[Savannahmann]

50. And exactly how are we going to do that with Sequestration?

That is the other half of the Rethug plan. It's brilliant. With the House sitting on NO, the Sequestration kicks in unless the President caves. If the President doesn't, the Government is slashed, programs are slashed, jobs are slashed. Tens of thousands of jobs will be lost, and we want to hire the laid off to get revenge? How? We're already looking at being unable to keep good workers in jobs as it is.

No, the Rethugs thought this out, months ago. I only wish I'd have figured it out sooner and sounded the alarm. I wish one of us had figured it out before. Because the fuckers have us over a barrel. We won the election, and they still have the fucking power to completely stymie us.

For now, they want tax cuts for the wealthy to avoid the Fiscal Cliff, but what will be next? Will we sell out the ACA to save some jobs? We have to stand tough, but when we do, hundreds of thousands will suffer. We're dealing with Domestic Terrorists, and we should be able to do something, but I'll be damned if I can think of what.

[Generic Other]

57. Sequestration is a game of chicken

They can abort that idea at any moment. I guess they wanna see who blinks first? I am getting the feeling Obama doesn't blink. Staring right straight into little old loser Ryan's eyes. He's gonna have a harder time strutting around Congress now that he's had his comeuppance. He's the new Sarah Palin. And he has no one's coat tails to hide behind.

I think they will do what Obama demands or they will hear about it from voters. January 1 is a little early in the second term to be pulling that crap. At least that is my hope!

[ProudProgressiveNow]

64. PBO will not blink!

He hold all the cards. The Republicans are blowing smoke.

[Kolesar]

37. Don't "Facebook" the story to give free publicity to his starchy-cheesy restaurant

Don't tweet the twit, either.

[coalition_unwilling]

40. I've been mulling over buying one share of stock (about $50) in

Papa John's (ticker = 'PZZA'), so that I gain shareholder rights to complain to its Board of Directors about the comments from its CEO and possibly even launch some type of shareholder revolt at the next annual meeting.

Still thinking about it. So any advice and feedback would be appreciated. I can buy the single share through Schwab which charges a $9 commission.

[Generic Other]

44. Gladys Glover

Have you ever seen that movie "It Should Happen to You"? Miss Glover does just what you are contemplating doing, and she becomes the talk of the town.

[KharmaTrain]

46. Get Some Friends To Join You...

Being a lone wolf at a stockholders meeting almost assured you will be ignored or portrayed as a crank. Get a dozen or more friends...all attending the meeting and things get interesting. Get 50 people and I'll bet you can take over the meeting. If you're looking to embarrass this works fine...not sure what any long term change it would bring.

Fortunately I live in the Pizza capital of the earth...never had a Papa Johns or Dominoes or any other right wing pizza.

Overall, I'd like to see an ongoing UFCW action to inform people about Schatter's lavish lifestyle and robber-baron operation. While asshats like this and Murray have no shame, they do have vanity and a long term campaign to shine the light on the company...television and internet...could be a real burr under his saddle. The best result is are the greedy bastards get tired of fighting and cash out...

[Generic Other]

51. Papa John's CEO

John Schnatter is the founder, as well as chairman and CO-CEO of PaPa Johns International Inc., with a net worth of $300 million. John Schnatter has accumulated his net worth through his franchises in over 3400 restaurants around the world. He was born in Jefferson, Indiana U.S.

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-businessmen/ceos/john-schnatter-net-worth/

his house:

[Generic Other]

52. Papa John doesn’t want you to have health care

Papa John doesn’t want you to have health care, lives in 40K square foot home, 22 car garage, underpays his employees

Partisan pizza maker, John Schnatter, founder and CEO of Papa John’s, is having a public hissy fit over ObamaCare, so much so that he’s announced to the world that he is forced (forced, I tell you) to raise his prices due to the new health care law. Schnatter is raising his prices 11 cents, likely in protest.

http://freakoutnation.com/2012/08/09/papa-john-doesnt-want-you-to-have-health-care-lives-in-40k-square-foot-home-22-car-garage-underpays-his-employees/

a driver for his pizza company earns $6.41 an hour.

[KamaAina]

41. When the question is "where did they all get their marching orders?",

the answer is usually "the Koch brothers".

[EC]

42. I'm hoping that Obama and the Cabinet

have plans to replace their jobs. Like in WV I'm hoping they have already started something in wind or solar or some sort of production they can do instead of going into unsafe Massy mines.

On edit: My family was WV coal miners near Thomas/Davis and everybody around there wished there were other jobs that paid a living wage instead of the mines. The mines break your back before you're 40 and just wears you out.

[Generic Other]

45. Those CEOS have been playing havoc with your communities for generations

There's nothing I can add you haven't already thought of, I am sure.

[Cognitive_Resonance]

43. Don't do business with them & spread the word the owner is an a-hole who treats the help badly. nt

[Generic Other]

48. But that hurts the worker

which complicates it a bit.

[TBF]

47. I'd love to see the IRS deal with them. Time for an audit ... nt

[Generic Other]

49. The ultimate curse

You are cruel. And so right.

[Illinoischick]

69. Wish this would work

But these types of companies have outside firms do their auditing and taxes.

As said before, of they are stupid enough to let good workers go, they will only hurt themselves.

[BlueMan Votes]

54. hire the layed-off people as the start of a wpa-type program to retrofit buildings...

and houses to make them more energy efficient.
or other types of projects to facilitate a new environmentally friendly and sustainable energy-delivery system for the country.

[gulliver]

55. I doubt they really exist.

It's bad business. There might be a few who will "sadly" have to lay off people. And they may say it was because of Obama's election or whatever. But I'll bet the true story for those CEOs will be that they were failing as CEOs and needed something to blame.

[Generic Other]

58. Upthread is info on the Ace Hardwqare CEOs letter to employees

and other info on her actions.

Also see the Papa John CEOs statements.

[gulliver]

67. Those don't support your premise.

I'm actually quite happy for Republican-owned businesses to fire people. It's their funeral. I just don't see it happening, because they know better.

There will be a few local examples, of course. But as I say, likely as not those are cases where the business was already failing and the boss just needed a face-saving excuse.

[Generic Other]

70. How so?

They threatened to fire. They now say they will do so or are doing so. The Ace Hardware CEO says that is her plan at any rate.

[redqueen]

56. Boycotts. The only thing the pigs understand is money.

And yeah, it has the potential to negatively impact workers.

So do these CEO's feckless stunts.

[Generic Other]

60. The coal company is hard to boycott

Pizza and hardware. Perhaps. But I don't want to hurt the workers. I wonder if the ones who were fired were identified as liberals by their fellow employees? The idea that this might be the case is rather alarming.

[redqueen]

68. If true, it should make your decision to no longer give money to these assholes that much easier nt

[WillyT]

65. K & R !!!

[ecofer]

71. Social Network WAY to RESPOND - Find News, Make News, and Organize in Real Time here..

This is a new group page on FB... Help me organize... Administrators welcome...

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Big-Business-That-Hate-Let-Go-American-Workers/251604804965549

[librechik]

72. Billboard campaigns in their hometowns

as negative as possible and as truthful. Shame them and shun them. Some of them are literally murderers, like that Murray guy.