Get Your Cardboard and Tape Somewhere Else

The Uihleins are big Republican donors, and they own Uline, a company that sells things like boxes, tape, and other packing materials.  

They are one of the giants in the space.

I'm not a fan of their politics, but that's not why I suggest that you shop elsewhere.

I'm suggesting that you shop elsewhere because the Uihleins are conservative rat-f%$#s, but because because they illegally asked their employees how they would vote, and by implication are pressuring their employees to vote the way that the Uihleins want them to vote:

The Republican mega-donors Dick and Liz Uihlein, who are the third largest donors in this year’s US presidential election, have sought information about who employees at their company Uline will be voting for in Tuesday’s ballot.

A screenshot seen by the Guardian shows how employees at the private Wisconsin paper and office products distributor were asked to take part in what was called an anonymous survey to track who the employees were voting for on 5 November.

………

While the button employees are meant to click says the survey is anonymous, the webpage also says that employees “may be asked to sign in”. “This is solely to verify you are a Uline employee and to ensure one submission per person. Your name is not tracked, and your answers remain anonymous.”

Public records show that Dick Uihlein has donated almost $80m to the Restoration Pac in the 2024 cycle, which supports the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, and other Republican candidates.

………

The voter survey is particularly significant because Uline’s operations are headquartered in the critical swing state of Wisconsin, which is one of three so-called “blue wall” states that are seen as necessary for Kamala Harris to win the White House. While Joe Biden won Wisconsin in the 2020 race for the White House, Trump took it in 2016, solidifying its status as a swing state.

………

Danielle Lang, senior director of voting rights at the Campaign Legal Center, said she did not believe the request was benign.

“Employers should know to be very careful around pressure on employees, about whether they vote and certainly who they vote for,” Lang said. 

………

“I think that is an implicit recognition of how much power employers can have over employees and the undue influence they can wield,” Lang said.

In Wisconsin, it is also criminal to solicit a person to show how their vote is cast.

A spokesperson declined to answer the Guardian’s question about the results of the survey, which were due by 25 October.

I would also argue that their behavior is a federal crime as well.

Do not patronize Uline.

To quote Billie Ray Valentine from Trading Places, "You know, it occurs to me that the best way to hurt rich people is by turning them into poor people."