Photo : Jeff Swensen ( Getty Images )

Turns out that those cheering plant workers behind President Trump at the Pennsylvania petrochemical plant didn’t have many choices when it came to attending the event. In fact, they only had three choices: either attend the event to get paid, use paid time off, or don’t attend and not get paid for the day. Oh, and if they didn’t attend, they weren’t eligible for overtime.




According to CNN, some workers were even instructed not to protest the president, who took credit for the plant although it was announced under Obama’s administration.


From CNN:



The instructions to the workers came in a memo, a copy of which was obtained by CNN’s Polo Sandoval from a congressional source. That source was given the memo by a person in Beaver County, Pennsylvania — the site of the plant. “Your attendance is not mandatory. This will be considered an excused absence. However, those who are NOT in attendance will not receive overtime pay on Friday,” read part of the memo. Shell spokesman Curtis Smith confirmed workers were told they would also miss out on some overtime pay if they skipped the event. Shell said it did not write the memo.

CNN notes that Trump’s plant speech was an official White House event—“not a speech sponsored by the reelection campaign.” Because the president of the United States is a walking trash can, he used the moment to campaign for office and to ostracize union leaders who wouldn’t pledge their loyalty to his reelection efforts.

“I’m going to speak to some of your union leaders to say, ‘I hope you’re going to support Trump.’ Okay?” Trump said Tuesday. “And if they don’t, vote them the hell out of office because they’re not doing their job. It’s true. It’s true. Vote them out of office.”


The fuck is wrong with this guy?