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Saturday, October 30, 2010

Voter McIntimidation: McDonalds franchise employees told raises and benefits tied to Republican win

When I first saw the headline about McDonalds attempting to intimidate voters, I thought it had something to do with Mayor McCheese trying an electoral bid in Philadelphia, but the actual story is below:


The owner of a franchise in Canton, Ohio enclosed a handbill in employees' paychecks that threatened lower wages and benefits if Republicans don't win on Tuesday.

"As the election season is here we wanted you to know which candidates will help our business grow in the future," reads the letter. "As you know, the better our business does it enables us to invest in our people and our restaurants. If the right people are elected we will be able to continue with raises and benefits at or above our present levels. If others are elected, we will not. As always, who you vote for is completely your personal decision and many factors go into your decision."

The note ends with a list of candidates McDonald's believes "will help our business move forward." It names Republicans John Kasich for governor, Rob Portman for Senate, and Jim Renacci for Congress.

read the full story here at The Huffington Post

2 comments:

Bob Devine said...

I do not see this anywhere near as intimidating as the other side of the coin. That would be the union endorsement of all things Democratic. Or should that read socialist? Seems to me if one side of the street can do it the other should be allowed also.

Richard K said...

As mich as I disagree with union politics, they have the right to endorse candidates. What I find objectionable are organized union participation in campaigns that, by providing unpaid labour, provide the equivalent of monetary value to some campaigns and circumvent regulations restricting campaign donations.

And while I hold the activities of some unions, like CUPW and CUPE Ontario in complete contempt, and find their leadership to be utterly reprehensible, two wrongs, as they say, do not make a right.

This story is not representative of McDonalds as a whole. Certain individuals may own one or more franciises, and it was one of these owners, rather than McDonalds corp that is responsible for this.

But that being said, this is completely beyond the pale and unacceptable. If he had listed Democratic candidates rather than Republican ones, then conservative pundits would be up in arms over this story, and rightly so.