Get My Taxes Cut or You’re Fired

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz recently enlisted hundreds of DC-area Starbucks workers to fight for the Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid cutting mission of billionaire-backed Fix the Debt.  Fix the Debt is a lobbying group composed of over 100 CEOs and executives from corporate giants like GE, Honeywell, and Goldman Sachs that aims to lower corporate taxes and protect defense spending, while cutting Social Security benefit growth, slashing Medicare funding and reducing expenditures on Medicaid for the poor.  Starbucks “partners” (which along with “member,” “associate,” “teammate” and “crew member” is just another bullshit Orwellian term intended to make you feel way more empowered at work than you actually are) were encouraged to write the phrase “Come Together [to cut my benefits and lower my boss’ taxes]” on patrons’ cups to send a “respectful and optimistic message to our elected officials” to lower the debt.

Schultz’ effort, which commenced the day after Christmas, follows a growing number of CEO attempts to influence the political positions of employees and harness worker manpower to push pro-rich, pro-business agendas.  No longer content to simply buy politicians, CEOs are now intent on directly coercing voters by threatening their livelihoods.

• In the run-up to the Presidential election, Westgate Resorts CEO David Siegel told his employees that if President Obama was reelected and implemented new taxes, “I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company” which “means fewer jobs, less benefits and certainly less opportunity for everyone.”
• ASG Software Solutions CEO Arthur Allen warned that if President Obama was reelected, ASG would “lose our independence as a company” resulting in the potential elimination of “about 60 percent of the salaries of the employees of [the] company.”
• Murray Energy CEO Robert Murray allegedly conditioned promotions and bonuses on political donations, and pushed workers to attend Romney campaign events without pay.

Similar examples can be found with the Koch brothers and a number of other executives.

This continuation and strengthening of corporate influence on the body politic is clearly disturbing.  In most states, your boss has the right to fire or discipline you based on how you vote, who you donate money to or which political policies you advocate.  While CEOs used to use this power sparingly for fear of facing public ire, the gloves are increasingly coming off.  It doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to envision a near-future world where political beliefs are screened in interviews, employee contributions are tracked by HR and dissenters are slow-tracked or fired.  Employment contracts already restrict workers’ dress, speech, movement, rights to association and many other behaviors, so why not political beliefs?

The other important part of this story is to highlight methods of resistance.  In California, state law restricts employers from terminating or threatening to fire employees based on their political beliefs.  Oregon has laws banning captive political meetings by employers and threats/actualization of dismissal based on voting.  Union contracts, which typically require “just cause” for discipline or termination, are also an effective way to stop corporate meddling.  Then there’s always the possibility that progressives will put down their Quinoa-infused organic enemas and double skinny vanilla lattes for a half-second and actually start to boycott anti-worker companies like Whole Foods and Starbucks.  Unless the left begins to strongly push for freedom of speech at work, collective bargaining for workers and public fight-backs against these modern barons, we’re all in for a darkly corporate-dominated political future.