This is forever going to be the case — any time a company dares to wade in to the muck of social politics it is assured something will blow up in the company’s facing logo.
A news report out of Topeka Kansas seemingly reveals some skewed corporate policies regard socio-political subjects. Station WIBW showed what it said was a photo taken from a seminal delivered to employees in a diversity training seminar conducted at the Topeka plant. The slide shows what the corporate policy is regarding acceptable displays of support by employees.
The slide in the photograph shows what the company deems ”acceptable” and ”unacceptable” underneath a heading of ZERO TOLERANCE.
Goodyear has released a statement after an employee said the slide presented in a training was discriminatory. https://t.co/H9B1gRu2r7
— WIBW (@wibw) August 18, 2020
The confounding part is that under ”Unacceptable” it lists ”political affiliated material”. However the flashpoint political subject of Black Lives Matter is considered ”Acceptable” at the same time. The employee who anonymously provided the photo stated the presentation had been delivered from the company corporate headquarters in Akron, Ohio.
This kind of conflicting messaging is not at all helped by the official statement released by the company.
“Goodyear is committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful workplace where all of our associates can do their best in a spirit of teamwork. As part of this commitment, we do allow our associates to express their support on racial injustice and other equity issues but ask that they refrain from workplace expressions, verbal or otherwise, in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party as well as other similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of equity issues.”
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That is some marvelous corporate double-speak; they allow support of ”equity issues” but also declare not all equity issues are created equal so some are thus banned. It is also a mystery how saying Black Lives Matter is not considered political but that it is political to say Blue Lives Matter, at the same time. Considering how intertwined both of these issues are today segregating them appears to be a mystery.
At Goodyear there may be two sides to an issue, but only one side is political, and thus not tolerated. To take this to an even more obtuse level, the company has declared support for the police departments in this country.
Matt Walsh collected a Goodyear graphic declaring how it is the preferred tire of law enforcement vehicles.
Goodyear brags that it’s a leader in proving tires for police cars even as it bans its employees from expressing support for police #BoycottGoodyear pic.twitter.com/lX2TNXtm0U
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) August 19, 2020
It would appear the company favors the police, as long as there is a revenue stream attached. As far as its employees however displaying support for that very customer base that is something the company will have a zero-tolerance towards.
Yup. They do fleet vehicles. Looks like police need to pull those contracts!
— Traci ?? (@tracivee17) August 19, 2020
So @goodyear is good with taking money from the police but not ok with showing any support for police? #boycottgoodyear
— Cardiff Giant (@astroboy3000) August 19, 2020
The irony in all of this: Goodyear backs Black Lives Matter, which is calling to defund the police departments. Should that come to pass there will be far fewer tires purchased as a result. They are literally supporting cutting off its own revenue stream.
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