Ohio miners say they were forced to attend Romney rally

Several miners at Murray Energy’s Century coal mine in Beallsville, Ohio, contacted a nearby morning talk radio host, David Blomquist, over the last two weeks to say that they were forced to attend an Aug. 14 rally for Romney at the mine. Murray closed the mine the day of the rally, saying it was necessary for security and safety, then docked miners the day's pay. Asked by WWVA radio’s Blomquist about the allegations on Monday’s show, Murray chief operating officer Robert Moore said: “Attendance was mandatory but no one was forced to attend the event.”

The Century mine is owned by Robert Murray, an enthusiastic Romney supporter and major contributor to the Republican Party on his own and through Murray Energy, one of the largest private coal companies in the U.S. Murray and his wife have given Republican candidates a total of $471,185 since the 2008 election, including the maximum of $5,000 each to Romney this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Additionally, employees of Murray Energy and its subsidiaries contributed almost $1.5 million to Republicans over the same period.

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Blomquist’s correspondents said they are routinely pressured to donate to Republican causes and that the company keeps track of who gives and who doesn’t. Workers sometimes have their pay envelopes stuffed with political literature, the employee’s wife said.

Wow....pretty much the picture of "democracy" as practiced in Russia, China, and Venezuela. Should these kinds of practices be banned in America, or are they already illegal under the Constitution?

Wow....pretty much the picture of "democracy" as practiced in Russia, China, and Venezuela. Should these kinds of practices be banned in America, or are they already illegal under the Constitution?



http://www.latimes.com/news/polit...ry_display

Private organizations can do whatever they want. If the miners don't care for it they can sure find a different line of work.

anything for Romney right? whatever it takes

Private organizations can do whatever they want. If the miners don't care for it they can sure find a different line of work.

WTF are you talking about?

And practiced by good ol' USA unions........

So what you're saying is that an employer has the right to order his employees to participate in political activities on their own free time?

So what you're saying is that an employer has the right to order his employees to participate in political activities on their own free time?

From your own post "no one was forced to attend the event"

so you think its ok for employers to force their employees to attend functions in which it has nothing to do with their jobs?

How do you resolve that with the COO's quote that "attendance was mandatory?"

Sounds to me like "forced" is the operative term. IE, you are required to attend, but nobody will pull out a pistol and "force" you to attend. You'll simply be fired if you don't.

How do you resolve that with the COO's quote that "attendance was mandatory?"

Sounds to me like "forced" is the operative term. IE, you are required to attend, but nobody will pull out a pistol and "force" you to attend. You'll simply be fired if you don't.

I have mandatory staff meetings all the time at my work. I can choose not to attend. I understand the consequences. So what? Still not forced.

Are you paid for the staff meetings? The link said the minors were nor paid but were told to attend the Romney Rally.