Job Requirements: Stand for Long Stretches, Lift 50 lbs, Vote for Mitt

Mike Elk writes about another way the Koch brothers are trying to influence the election: By encouraging their employees — including 45,000 employees at subsidiary Georgia Pacific — to vote for Koch-endorsed candidates. Elk writes: “In a voter information packet … the Koch Industries corporate leadership informed tens of thousands of employees at its subsidiary, Georgia Pacific, that their livelihood could depend on the 2012 election and that the company supports Mitt Romney for president.”

The most incredible bit involves ambiguity about the company’s social media policy and some workers’ fears that they would lose their jobs after appearing in a photo with a non-Koch endorsed candidate with a Koch-owned paper mill in the background. “Georgia Pacific workers say that in general, they are not sure where the boundaries of the social media policy lie. AWWPW Local 5 President Jim Pierce, who works at Georgia Pacific paper mill, in Camas, Washington, is wary of commenting online about the outspoken Koch Brothers’ political beliefs. ‘Even if I was at my own home, I can’t put something up [on Facebook] against the Koch Brothers,’ says Pierce. ‘I don’t post anything about the Koch Brothers. I could lose my job.’

Not talking crap about your employer online makes sense. But disagreeing with their politics? That seems fair game, but it’s not for Koch employees. (Complaints have been filed with the National Labor Relations Board.)

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