Imagine you work for the largest company in town. You live from paycheck to paycheck like a large portion of lower- to middle-wage workers and can’t afford to be without a job for long. Your company has pretty high turnover, and it has a reputation for firing people it labels troublemakers, people who don’t fit into the corporate culture.
Now imagine that at a mandatory work meeting, your supervisor warns you that Congress is considering legislation that will make it easier for unions to come into your company. A union here would be a disaster, the supervisor warns, and would mean layoffs, or even worse, closing down entire locations. Unions are bad news. And just to top it off, if a Democrat gets into the White House, we can be sure that bill in Congress will become the law. So think about that, he says, when you’re in that voting booth.
. . . .
So what’s the big deal? Can’t employees just choose not to attend these coercive meetings, whether on politics or religion?
In most cases, the answer is no. Although physically employees may walk out of such meetings or not attend, employees risk being fired if they are considered to be insubordinate to their supervisors by failing to listen to them or by not attending these assemblies. Indeed, employees have been lawfully terminated for merely asking questions of their employers during such captive audience meetings or for leaving such meetings without permission.
Obviously there are two sides to every story -- but, regardless of your view, this is a difficult issue, and the authors frame the issues quite well. Think about what you recommend to address these issues, if anything, and why.
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