Publix Issues Statement About Capitol Siege

[FelineOverlord]

Link to tweet

[elleng]

1. Seems that she is NOT an employee, so wrong to say denying such is 'ludicrous;'

WORDS MATTER, let's watch our words and implications.

Her wealth appears to be tied to the company, and the company seems to be trying to separate itself from her, which is smart.

[TwilightZone]

9. Agreed.

Kneejerk reactions like this with zero evidence (I would think Publix knows whether or not she's an employee) help nothing.

[DeminPennswoods]

25. +1

Heiress does not equal employee.

[EX500rider]

2. I'd say the statement that she is not a employee is less ludicrous and more factual.

Also her not being involved in business operations, she is basically just a large stock holder they have no control over.

[SoonerPride]

4. So she can't be fired but we can fire Publix

Go shop somewhere that doesn’t funnel
Money to seditionists.

[EX500rider]

8. They have no control over her actions and she has no control over theirs, i don't see the connection

If someone owned a bunch of Ford stock did the same thing it would be silly to hold it against Ford. She is not on the board of directors.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

13. She is the daughter of the founder

If a member of the Ford family funded the insurrection there would be a huge fall-out.

[EX500rider]

14. I don't do knee jerk reactions, does she have any job there? No. nt

[DemocratSinceBirth]

16. I don't do "knee jerk reactions" either.

I don't do "knee jerk reactions" either. If not for the wealth the employees at Publix generate she wouldn't have had the one million dollars to donate to Trump's re- election campaign and the three hundred thousand dollars to donate to his separate campaign to overturn it when he lost it.

Them's the facts.


P.S. Publix's statement was technically correct but disingenuous.

[trc]

20. The employees own 80% of the company

So maybe the wealth they generate impacts them much more than her? She has generational wealth, I would be willing to bet the employee owners do not.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

22. The stocks they own represent approximately 8% of their salaries.

Wal-Mart will match stock purchases by their associates up to a certain amount. If a Walton contributed $300,000.00 to fund a rally to overturn the election I would feel the same way.

[brewens]

10. I'd say if shopping there puts money into the hands of terrorists, it doesn't matter that they

are our terrorists. Treat it like a business funneling money to Islamic terrorists.

[Blue_true]

12. Publix is majority owned by employees. It pays well and that is

the only places that I see the same employee faces over and over.

I believe that a boycott is a horrible idea. If we do that, why not boycott lots of businesses that have idiots holding significant share stakes?

[MLAA]

3. I got the exact statement in reply to my email to them earlier today.

[dchill]

5. Publix is employee-owned.

Publix Super Markets, Inc., commonly known as Publix, is an employee-owned, American supermarket chain headquartered in Lakeland, Florida.[1] Founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins, Publix is a private corporation that is wholly owned by present and past employees and members of the Jenkins family.

[TwilightZone]

6. She's an heiress.

That doesn't automatically mean she's an employee and/or involved in business operations or that she represents the company.

Unless Ms. Levine has evidence to the contrary, she probably shouldn't be questioning the accuracy of the statement. She may end up looking a bit foolish.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

19. Publix's statement was technically correct but disingenuous.

Publix was being literal. Ms Levine was being figurative.

[TwilightZone]

21. Words matter.

Bullshit is bullshit, regardless of the source. We shouldn't give someone a pass just because they're ostensibly on our side.

If she has nothing to do with the company and is not involved in business operations, she's not even figuratively an employee. I worked for Ford years ago and there were several family members who would eventually inherit blocks of stock who they didn't want anywhere near the company or its operations, for various reasons. It appears that there's a similar dynamic here.

Arguing that Publix is the source of her inheritance is fine. Arguing that that automatically makes her an employee and the company responsible for everything she does is ridiculous.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

23. Ms. Levine's tweet was poorly worded. Some of it can be attributed to the vagaries of twitter.

Publix is a corporation who delivers a good product. I see some people practically lionizing them because they have an ESOP program. This isn't their first rodeo funding right wing causes from Adam Putnam's campaign to DeSantis's campaign to opposing medical marijuana.

I have no problem with folks supporting Republicans. It's a free country. I have a huge problem with people supporting efforts to overturn an election and throwing out my vote.

[Hoyt]

7. Publix did not fund the rubes' insurrection. I don't believe she's a stockholder.

Appears she took her dad’s money and shunned the business. She’s not on Board of Directors either.

However, I would like to see Publix’s Board demonstrate more diversity.

[Hortensis]

28. Same. I don't find that she's a stockholder, but not confirmed.

A company she was associated with sold product to Publix up until 2017 or so, but the family's unsavory politics had already been causing Publix to distance, and she disassociated with that company. She and her fall-under-the-tree children are not board members.

[Disaffected]

11. I find this kinda interesting as

there used to be a grocery chain in Canada, when I was kid (many years ago) called Jenkins. They played this lame jingle on the radio so many times it was drummed into my head:

"Oh, your Jenkins store is the place to go,
where the quality's high and the price is low,
get the most for least and save your dough,
we are waiting to serve you at Jenkins..."

I wonder if it's the same family?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

17. No relationship

[Hermit-The-Prog]

18. k&r for the clarity in comments

[LizBeth]

24. Ironic using "deplorable"

[Cicada]

26. Employees own 80% of the shares of Publix

The employees of Publix own 80% of the shares through their Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Boycotting the company mainly hurts the employees who did not support the insurrection.

[stopdiggin]

27. Why would I want to boycott

a company that is 80% employee owned? Did the employees or board vote to storm the capital?
This doesn't seem to be all that well thought out.

[Hortensis]

29. Yes, Publix is the largest employee-owned company in the U.S.

Those who want all businesses employee-owned should appreciate learning about Publix.

Publix: "For 83 years Publix has thrived by delivering top-rated service to its shoppers by turning thousands of its cashiers, baggers, butchers and bakers into the company's largest collective shareholders. All staffers who have put in 1,000 work hours and a year of employment receive an additional 8.5% of their total pay in the form of Publix stock. ... How rich can employees get? According to Publix, a store manager who has worked at the company for 20 years and earns between $100,000 and $130,000 likely has $300,000 in stock and has received another $30,000 in dividends."

AJC: "Virginia Conn, an Atlanta area resident, retired from Publix 13 years after being hired as a deli associate in June 2003. "It builds up quickly," Conn said of the stock. "But I think my first dividend check was for something like five dollars. I used it to buy lunch the day after I received the check," she laughed. But by the time she retired, she could afford to buy lunch for everyone she worked with and then some. ... Upon her retirement, Conn cashed in her shares for a sum she asked to remain confidential, but it's comparable to a mid-level executive's annual salary. (Nice retirement income.) Remember, she worked there only 13 years.

Another Atlanta-area employee, who started with the company right after graduating from high school, recently took early retirement and cashed in his Publix stock for more than $1 million. He declined an interview.

"Publix stock is privately owned and restricted: it can only be purchased by current employees or board members during designated offering periods, and cannot be sold to anyone without first being offered back to Publix for repurchase."

For sure, Publix's record is not totally clean -- it's owned and run by people after all -- but it's a lot better than many. Since founding in 1938, they've never had a layoff. Guess I shouldn't have been surprised to read that given who owns it.

I was also interested to find that Publix offers a 2-week course of a number of standard antibiotics, as well as a few common hypertension and diabetes medicines apparently up to 90 days, free to anyone with a prescription.