Will pre-election layoff threats be carried out?

Prior to Tuesday's election, a handful of business owners delivered a stark warning to their employees: If President Obama wins, they said, your job may be in jeopardy.

Now, in the wake of Obama's victory, some of those business owners are walking back their pre-election warning, while others are reifying it. And at least one self-described business owner has allegedly already made good on his threat.

"David," a Las-Vegas business owner who wished to remain anonymous, told CBS affiliate KXNT that he warned his mostly Hispanic workforce that a second Obama term would hurt his business and could well result in layoffs.

The result? "I had to lay off 22 people today to make sure that my business is gonna thrive and I'm gonna be around for years to come," said David, adding, "I've always put my employees first, but unfortunately today I have to put me and my family first."

And he's convinced he's not alone: "I'm just one guy with 114 employees - well was 114 employees - watch what happens in the next six months...There's a tsunami coming and if you didn't think this election had consequences, just wait."

Murray Energy Corp., owned by outspoken Romney supporter Robert Murray, laid off 102 people at a Utah coal mine, blaming the layoffs on President Obama's "war on coal." Although employees were not pre-warned that Obama's reelection could threaten their jobs, the statement announcing the layoffs was released Thursday, only two days after the election, according to KSL in Salt Lake City.

And according to the company, they simply didn't have much choice. "There is nowhere to sell our coal, and when we can, the market prices are far lower... Without markets, there can be no coal mines and no coal jobs," the company said, blaming the Obama administration's policies that it claims will shut down "204 American coal-fired power plants by 2014."

Papa Johns founder John Schnatter, a prominent Romney supporter and donor, made waves before the election with his warning that pizza prices will rise due to the Affordable Care Act.

Yesterday, after Obama's reelection virtually ensured the survival of the health care reform law, Schnatter warned an audience at Collier Community College that employees' hours may be cut to prevent them from accessing the company's health insurance plan, according to the Naples Daily News.

"Unfortunately, I don't think people know what they're going to pay for this," said Schnatter, adding that a reduction in employees' weekly hours is "probably what's going to happen. It's common-sense. That's what I call lose-lose."

And the angst in the corner office is not limited to small business owners - on Wall Street, the pessimism is apparently equally acute.

"These guys are in mourning," Fox Business Network correspondent Charlie Gasparino told the Huffington Post, describing the attitude in the financial services industry. "They know that Wall Street is going to lay off a lot more people."

Still, some business owners who previously warned that a second Obama term would compel layoffs are sounding a different tune after the election, walking back or actively countermanding their pre-election warning.

David Siegel, the billionaire owner of timeshare giant Westgate Resorts, sent a cautionary email to his employees before the election: "The economy doesn't currently pose a threat to your job," warned Siegel in the email, obtained by Gawker. "What does threaten your job however, is another 4 years of the same Presidential administration. Of course, as your employer, I can't tell you whom to vote for, and I certainly wouldn't interfere with your right to vote for whomever you choose." But Siegel warned, "If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current President plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company."

Now, however, Siegel is denying he ever threatened to fire his employees. "I didn't do a thing," he told Bloomberg Businessweek. "I just wished employees luck. I didn't do anything to encourage or discourage employees, to find out who their preference was."

In case anyone was confused, Siegel dispatched another email to his employees after Obama's victory: "Notwithstanding the results of the election, I want to assure you of my resolve to do my best to grow the company rather than shrink it," wrote Siegel in the email, which was obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.

And to underscore his commitment to his employees, Siegel said that he "gave everybody in the company a raise this week--the average was 5 percent."

Still, he could not resist taking one last dig at President Obama, explaining the raise as a product of his own beneficence - and a consequence of the government's heavy hand: "I wanted to help [my employees] handle the additional burdens the government will put on them."

[terman123]

Mr Siegel sure sounds like a guy I'd like to work for! "I didn't threaten them, I wished them luck!" Does he really have such low expectations of his own employees intelligence?

[Country_in_crisis]

This is exactly the situation that the President is attempting to rectify: I don't know what an average employee of this pizza company makes per year but it has been reported that Papa John has a very healthy annual income and lives lavishly in a 40,000 square-foot home with all the perks, yet he would rather lay employees off than reinvest a portion of his and his company's massive income to cover the cost of health insurance for his employees. He ought to be commended for the business sense that made his company large and his personal income enormous; that is what America is all about "The Land of Opportunity" but the same wisdom that led him to start and run a successful company should also enlighten him to the fact that he needs employees to sustain his empire. If this was the only issue then we would try to appeal to his better nature to address the needs of his employees; but as is well documented, his real reason is a political vendetta for the re-electing of President Obama. As a supporter of Republican Causes and an obstructionist he refuses to see the need for "ObamaCare" and the fact that millions of Americans will now be eligible for healthcare, including some of his own employees, nor for that matter does he want to see America benefit from any of the President's programs. The election is over and because he and his Republicans lost is no reason to take away jobs from hard working Americans. If it was not for the gravity of the situation; the whining and childish pettiness would be almost laughable but what we have here is greed, selfishness and political stupidity. We need a group of lawyers who would be willing to donate their time to sue these employers so that the fired and or laid off employees would get what they deserve. This is a new day and we as a people need to stand up for each other for change and fairness and even though we may not be able to jump in and rectify every situation we surely can use our purchasing power to send a message to all the greedy on behalf of the needy.

[lookinforbalance]

I am sure businesses will need some time to readjust, and naturally...they resent the need to do so, but I doubt the consumer will see much difference to their pocket books when all is said and done.

We may not have been paying for universal healthcare via the higher price of pizza (etc) before Obamacare, but we were paying for it through the inflated rates passed on to us by hospitals. How else did hospitals absorb costs when the uninsured used their emergency rooms in place of office visits?

[logictoo]

Some emergency rooms are starting to charge up-front if it is determined patient does not present as needing emergency treatment. As far as mandate(tax)for Obamacare the dollar amount has not been worked out as far as I can determine but it will be affordable, whatever that means.

[lookinforbalance]

I am sure businesses will need some time to readjust, and naturally...they resent the need to do so, but I doubt the consumer will see much difference to their pocket books when all is said and done.

We may not have been paying for universal healthcare via the higher price of pizza (etc) before Obamacare, but we were paying for it through the inflated rates passed on to us by hospitals. How else did hospitals absorb costs when the uninsured used their emergency rooms in place of office visits?

[dbarber54]

Does this answer your question?

http://www.beaufortobserver.net/Articles-NEWS-and-COMMENTARY-c-2012-11-09-263698.112112-Massive-layoffs-as-ObamaCare-looms.html

[GOP-R--Con-Men]

"Will pre-election layoff threats be carried out?"

Isn't it ironic and also unpatriotic that those business owners without shame or apology threaten the very democratic process that makes their success possible. This is why the one percent must be ruled in.

[Blue-Sky101]

Only in lib world are regulations and taxes not seen as an expense. They were not threatening Democracy, they were looking to the future and what this administration will bring. What changes have you made on a personal level with the increases to gas, food and the energy to heat and cool your home? Did you cut bak on other spending or go into more debt?

[pasaonapaz]

no they are being honest and how obama tries class warfare as part of his divide and conquer agenda is wrong, creepy and undemocratic but very much like a democrat.

[thetruth2013]

Lets get a grip. I see the Rich trying to bully employees so they in turn can make more money. Sorry Maybe you will not make 3 to 10 million this year, Maybe you only make 2 million? I feel very sorry for you! I am sure you will need to collect food stamps with only 2 million in profits. Give me a break all you do is work these employees all day for a few dollars work them 38 hrs in 4 days and cut them just before they make ot. This practice has been going on for a long time and it is not going away. So you going to lay off workers if Obama wins? Go ahead but make sure you have insurance for the ones you do keep after all they do all the work!

[sjc_1]

Go ahead and fire them, they will raise the money, start a company, compete with the evil Republican DBags and run them out of business. Those new companies will be employee owned instead of exploiting pits.

[Blue-Sky101]

No they won't. They would have already done it.. They like you are waiting for there handout.

[raspy1775]

For all the Obama supportes, how many of you have 401K and IRA'S? Where do you think your investment manager is investing your money? Large business some may be listed above. With the new tax's and Obama care what do you think is going to happen? Stocks are going to go down and what do think is going to happen to your investments? For all that voted him in, you have no right to complain when your 401k's and IRA's hit the bottom.

[Jesse_Gilleland]

I don't think my investments were ever lower than they were at the end of the Bush presidency...

I've worked in and around healthcare long enough to know that once people have real coverage and are no longer forced to use the ER as their primary care, costs will go down for everyone. The reason a dose of Tylenol costs $35 is that's the only way for a hospital to offset the cost of the uninsured that they are required to provide services to.

When your side of the argument is "be afraid" I'm automatically skeptical. Fear is the last-ditch motivator when the argument isn't logical or intelligent.

[SSteams]

Layoffs are only the tip of the iceberg. Lots of companies will be closing up shop. Here's a handful that have been announced since Obama won:

Caterpillar Inc. will close its plant in Owatonna Minn.
Mount Pleasant's Albrecht Sentry Foods
Target is closing four stores
K-Mart is closing several stores
Millennium Academy in Wake Forest NC
The Andover Gift Shop in Andover MA
Grand Union Family Markets Closing Storrs Location CT
Movie Scene Milford Location NH
TE Connectivity Closing Greensboro Plant
Gomer's Fried Chicken in South Kansas City
Fresh Market in Burlington
AGC Glass North America to permanently close its Blue Ridge Plant in Kingsport Tenn.
The Roses store in Winston-Salem NC
Meanders Kitchen West Seattle
Bost Harley-Davidson in West Nashville TN
Townsend Booksellers in Oakland

[marychgo]

Is it conceivable, SSTEAMS, that you're NOT aware that it's perfectly normal for retailers (most of the businesses you list)to close some locations and then open others? It has NOTHING at all to do with either the presidential election or PPACA!

[Blue-Sky101]

SJC is proving the economic ignorance of this country...what part of taxes and regulations being an expense don't you understand? A business either eats the cost or passes it on.