The Pike Company Needs To Learn What MANDATORY Means

You know, Mittsy Romney keeps telling us that he's the best man to fix the economy and that's why we should vote for him come November, but I know a group of coal miners who say Mittsy wasn't very good for their paychecks recently.

It seems that Mittsy was in Ohio earlier this month, visiting a coal mine to talk about boosting jobs in the coal industry, but while he was there the miners lost a day’s wages because attendance at the Romney rally was mandatory and unpaid.

The Pepper Pike Company owns the Century mine where the workers, according to Murray Energy Chief Financial Officer Rob Moore, were told they must attend the rally without pay. Moore says that mine managers "communicated to our workforce that the attendance at the Romney event was mandatory, but no one was forced to attend."

Attendance is mandatory but you don't have to attend? WTF kind of logic is that?

But then Moore goes on to say that the mine had to be shut down for "safety and security" reasons during Romney's visit, and that miners often lose a days pay when the mines are shut down due to weather or power outages. But aren't those things you can't really control? A Mittsy visit was planned for a work day; it could have, and should have, been held another day. 

Then Moore also explains that federal election law forbids paying employees to attend political events. Okay, yeah, I can see that, when the employee chooses to attend the event. But, again, the Pike Company shut down the mines and told the workers they had to attend. That's not good for the workers, or the economy, or, well, I guess it was good for Mittsy's ego because he got a crowd of miners to stand in front of him like they were happy to be there.

Moore didn't see anything negative in attending Romney's campaign appearance: "We are talking about an event that was in the best interest of anyone that's related to the coal industry in this area or the entire country."

But then you take away a day’s pay. How is that in the best interests of the workers if this economy is bad?

Siding with Rob Moore was Murray Energy spokesman Gary Broadbent: "Rob Moore made it abundantly clear that no employees were forced to attend the Romney event. All participation was, and always has been, completely voluntary."

Mandatory.Is.Not.Voluntary.

And many of the miners reported feeling intimidated into attending Romney's appearance, and they report being told they would lose that day’s pay unless they could make up their missed hours on overtime or weekends.

Their missed hours were forced on them. Does no one, the mine spokes-tools or the CFO, or even Mittsy Romney, for heaven's sake, see the idiocy in this situation? Or is that a ridiculous question when you consider it's Mittsy?

Sidenote: Murray Energy contributed over $900,000 to GOP candidates in the last two years.

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