Andrew and Devin are in the minority of Outback Employees PAC contributors contacted by Mother Jones. But the other third, who said they didnt care much about national or state politics, suggested they felt pressured by corporate politics into signing the agreements. I just did it because they said I should, Seth Kaplan a former Outback manager told Mother Jones. They kind of implied you had to do it. They said everyone does it and let you know how much you contributed compared to others.
Outback employees arent the only ones having their paychecks docked.
Campaign finance data from Florida and Ohio show tens of thousands of union members and employees of companies with employee PACs whose paychecks are docked regularly to fund political war chests. Finding paycheck dockers in campaign finance data can range from ridiculously simple to nearly impossible. In Ohio, for example, the transactions are actually coded as payroll deductions. Florida, however, itemizes all contributions no matter how small, so the hunting is pretty good. The first thing most reporters do when they get a database of campaign contributions is sort by amount, so the biggest show up on top.