Your Employer Wants To Indoctrinate You With Their Politics

I recently found out about an organization called the Job Creators Network, which some big CEOS are involved in like Roger Ailes (you know, Faux News), David Hernandez of Liberty Power (formerly with, Enron), and other big corporate heads. Their major goal in life seems to be to indoctrinate employees into voting against their own interests.

Well, that's not what they say. They say:

America’s employees, particularly non-union employees, are an untapped reservoir of support for free enterprise. Job Creators Network’s E2E Communication Program leverages employee support by providing employers across America with the tools, materials, and guidance they need to educate their employees about the impact of government policies on their jobs, pay, benefits and families. E2E promotes a better-informed public by educating employers about information they can legally provide to their employees. A well-informed public is the best defense against bad public policy.

That's right. Your employer is going to do you the huge favor of telling you how to vote. They want you to be well-informed. They have an Employer To Employee Communications Program with a toolkit for employers to explain how to "educate" you on important issues.

They have a helpful website for employers to relay their political message to employees. Here's a good summary of the message. Unions = Bad. Minimum Wage Increases = Bad. Affordable Care Act = Bad. Regulations = Bad. Personal Injury Suits = Bad. Employers = Good. Big Business = Good. Let's reduce taxes on your poor boss and eliminate those nasty unions, regulations and employment laws.

If you buy into this, I have some land to sell you west of me (west of me is the Everglades). I find the whole concept of employers indoctrinating employees in politics terrifying. They have you captive, and now they get to fling propaganda at you at will. If they have their way if you complain about your exploding Pinto you'll have to do indentured servitude at Ford for 10 years as punishment for your chutzpah. We'll be back to company stores, locked fire-hazard sweat shops, and child labor in no time.

You can expect the indoctrination to ramp up as we get closer to the elections. If you want real information about how some of these issues affect employees and don't want to buy into the big corporate propaganda, here are some places you can look to get pro-employee information.

• The Center For Workplace Fairness: These guys have a terrific website about all kinds of employment laws and political issues affecting employees.
• AFL-CIO: Yeah, yeah. Unions = Bad, or so your employer tells you. Whether or not you like unions, this section of their website analyzes the hot political issues affecting employees. Check it out on your evenings off, weekends and legal holidays, which you can thank unions for. 
• National Employment Lawyers Association: I'm a member of this employee-side organization. Their website is informative for everyone, not just lawyers. If you want to know what employee-side lawyers are working on for employees, check here.
• National Council of State Legislatures: This is a nonpartisan organization that compiles lists of what legislation the various states have pending and where it is in the process. If you want to know what's going on in any state or on the federal level in labor and employment law, start here.

Of course, you can always check here if you want to know what's the latest in employment law. You can also check out my weekly column over at AOL Jobs.

Don't buy what your employer tells you is best for your wallet. They care about what's best for their wallet, not yours. Educate yourself and get informed about the issues before you vote.