Workers at the Shell petrochemical plant President Donald Trump spoke at last week said that they either had to take paid time off or receive no pay for the day if they did not attend the speech.

Workers were sent a memo by the Shell telling them that while the event was not mandatory they would not be paid for overtime if they missed the day. 

Officials say that Shell sent a memo that was written to deter employees from protesting the event and the memo telling workers they would not be paid was based off of the original. 

A spokesman from Shell, Curtis Smith, said, “It was understood some would choose not to attend the presidential visit and were given the option to take paid time off (PTO) instead. As with any workweek, if someone chooses to take PTO, they are not eligible to receive maximum overtime.”

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The president said he was going to speak to their union leaders and then added that if their union leaders don’t support him they need to “vote them the hell out of office because they’re not doing their job. It’s true. It’s true. Vote them out of office.”

A local union, Steamfitters local 449, told Pittsburgh newspaper, Post-Gazette, “This is just what Shell wanted to do, and we went along with it.”

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