HOW TO BREAK UP WITH ULINE AND ENCOURAGE BUSINESSES YOU SUPPORT TO DO THE SAME

They're real bad, guys. Real. Bad. Guys.

WHAT IS ULINE?

“If you’ve received a box in the mail recently, you’ve likely touched ULINE. As North America's largest distributor of shipping, packaging, and industrial supplies, ULINE is an omnipresent supplier in today’s shipping-fueled economy. ULINE was founded in 1980 by Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein—heirs to the Schlitz beer company fortune. ULINE has grown to offer close to 40,000 products and has more than 7,000 employees—seems like a true midwestern success story, right?” (text from RefuseUline.com)

WHY ARE THEY BAD?

Well… in addition to everything above, Uline is also a company founded by the descendants of Nazi sympathizers, a far-right conservative couple who in the last two years alone have spent more than $120 MILLION dollars on state and federal elections, vocally fighting against unions, abortion rights, and LGBTQ folks. A whopping half of that money went directly toward election-denying candidates.

Here’s some reporting about the Uihlein family and Uline:

• How the Uline Box Empire Has Fueled Election Denial (Pro-Publica)

• Meet the Billionaire Couple Putting Their Fortune Into Right-Wing Politics (Forbes)

• The Most Powerful Conservative Couple You’ve Never Heard Of (New York Times)

• Billionaire Megadoners Who Fought Wisconsin’s Plans To Contain Pandemic Get Infected At White House (Milwaukee Independent)

In closing: Uline stands in powerful opposition to all progressive and Democratic values. The good news is that, unlike most awful billionaires, the Uihleins are rich because WE ARE GIVING THEM MONEY. So… let’s stop.

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WHAT ARE SOME ALTERNATIVES?

From shipping supplies to industrial supplies, food service, and office supplies Refuse Uline dot com has a list of alternatives. They have not vetted the political affiliations of every company on their list but, statistically, none of them are funneling anywhere near the amount of money into far-right extremism as Uline.

HOW CAN I HELP?

Well, firstly, if you work at a small business or any size company: stop purchasing from ULINE.

If you’re not the person doing the purchasing, figure out who is and talk to them, or speak to HR or the head of your company. Chances are, Uline’s values are in direct conflict with some of the most basic inclusion principles.

BUT I DON’T PURCHASE OFFICE OR SHIPPING SUPPLIES

That’s okay! I’ve taken to sending a polite email to companies when I see them use Uline products. So far, I’m batting 33% response rate, and all people who are thankful for the information and say they’re switching or in the process of switching.

Here’s the email I send if you’d like to pull from it:

Hi [Name of Person/Company],

I wanted to reach out because my order was shipped using ULINE packaging, and I was wondering if you knew about that company and how antithetical they are to the values of [your store].

Founded the son of Nazi sympathizer Edgar J. Uihlein, the family that owns and operates Uline has put hundreds of millions of dollars toward supporting right-wing politicians, anti-trans & LGBTQ legislation, and defending access to military-style assault weapons. They also vocally (and financially) supported Roy Moore's Senate election after he was credibly accused of sexual misconduct with underage girls. Here's a NY Times article about them from 2018, but since then they've vocally and financially supported anti-semitic and pro-fossil fuel candidates. Between 2020-2022 they spent $121 MILLION dollars on state and federal elections, fighting taxes, unions, abortion rights, and marijuana legislation. This includes $60 million on election-denier candidates.

Simply put, they are bad folks – and they make their money from people like you buying their boxes and packaging supplies.

I'd strongly urge you to consider stopping all support for the Uline Corporation.

Here's an article from NY Mag about a small business owner who broke from Uline and how they found other options:

https://nymag.com/strategist/article/rachel-comey-quit-uline.html

And, here's a site that has resources and alternatives (many of them small businesses like yours) for how to replace Uline in your workflow:

https://refuseuline.com/#resources

Thanks for your time and consideration, and for [the lovely socks, etc.],

[Your Name Here]

Have you made the switch from Uline? Let me know how it went in the comments.