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AOC dunks on Barstool Sports for violating labor law (updated)

The AFL-CIO chimed in, too.

 

David Covucci

Tech

Posted on Aug 13, 2019   Updated on May 20, 2021, 6:35 am CDT

In 2019, in the wake of layoffs, frozen pay, and massive restructuring, employees at media companies across the county have turned to collective bargaining to help protect their jobs and secure better pay and benefits.

Just yesterday, the Ringer joined a long line of digital publications starting a union. Most media organization offered support for the Ringer, but most media organizations are not Barstool Sports, the often-misogynistic website for people who enjoy consuming stolen viral videos.

Instead, Barstool Sports President Dave “El Presidente” Portnoy took time out of his day to bash unions, and then when people responded, declare that if any of his employees looked into unionizing or spoke with labor lawyers, he would fire them. He also said that unions were for “pussies.”

But beyond the brash and sexist nature of the comments, they are also illegal.

Like the AFL-CIO tweets, the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 stops bosses from “interfering with the formation or administration of any labor organization.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) echoed the same sentiment on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/RafiLetzter/status/1161092601036058625

https://twitter.com/stoolpresidente/status/1161268795278790658

https://twitter.com/stoolpresidente/status/1161287968851726337

Portnoy’s tweets—which like with anything Barstool-related, will be likely defended with claims of irony and satire—were flagged by the nation’s biggest labor organization, the AFL-CIO.

The organization even DMed the tweets to the National Labor Relations Board.

By laughing off organized labor, Portnoy seems to have opened up an avenue for his employees to organize.

This post has been updated.

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*First Published: Aug 13, 2019, 12:40 pm CDT