Canvassers for Elon Musk’s America PAC say that they were flown to Michigan and told they had to meet unattainable quotas or risk paying for their own accommodations and travel home. Then they were unceremoniously fired after some of them spoke to the press.
The workers — many of whom are Black — told Wired that Blitz Canvassing, a subcontractor for Musk’s PAC, had them sign non-disclosure agreements and transported them to Michigan neighborhoods in the back of a U-Haul without seats or seatbelts. After Wired ran an initial story about their working conditions, the magazine reported that the subcontractor fired more than a dozen canvassers, leaving some without full compensation or transportation home.
One door-knocker told the magazine they did not know what they were signing up for. “I knew nothing of the job, or much of the job description, other than going door to door and asking the voters who are they voting for,” the unidentified worker said. “Then, after I signed over an NDA, is when I found out we are for Republicans and with Trump.”
The worker also said they were not aware of the billionaire’s involvement until they “overheard my supervisor and a few others mention Elon Musk.”
According to Wired, Trump’s campaign is relying on Musk and his PAC to lead its door-to-door efforts in the battleground state, but it appears that the X owner’s operation is slapdash at best. Canvassers said they were initially taking Ubers to neighborhoods where they spoke to voters, but later they were unsafely transported in the rear of a U-Haul van without seats or seatbelts. Organizers told the canvassers to use a glitchy app to record their progress, even though the app is known for inaccurately flagging fake door knocks.
“Our subcontractors never should have driven their canvassers in a U-Haul van and those involved were immediately reprimanded,” Tim Pollard of Blitz Canvassing told Wired.
More than a dozen workers were fired after the magazine’s story on the canvassing mishaps broke, Wired reported, leaving some in Michigan without their full pay or transportation home. According to emails obtained by the publication, canvassers were promised $2,000 per week in compensation and a return plane ticket. They were also told they would earn $1.50 per door knocked, text messages showed, and that rate would increase to $2 per door if they reached more than 1,000 doors per week — an unachievable number.
“I have this eerie feeling that I need to get the hell up out of there,” Florida resident Tyra Muldrow, a 20-year-old Black woman, told the publication. Muldrow, who had to find her own way home, said she and other canvassers were told they were fired because some of them had spoken to the media.
Muldrow said the group of canvassers she worked with was made up of Black people from out of state. Muldrow provided videos to Wired that showed cramped accommodations and disagreements between workers.
Muldrow found out she and others were fired through a GroupMe chat from her cousin, Ebony Jones, who recruited her for the job. “Everyone is fired,” Jones wrote in the chat. According to Muldrow, Jones then started asking workers spoke to the media.
At least four canvassers, including Muldrow, said they were not compensated for their work before they were terminated. Muldrow showed Wired that she initially received only $69 via Cash App “for Gotv” — a reference to get out the vote efforts.
“Following the incident, some of the canvassers and contractors involved left the program, some decided to stay, all have been paid,” Pollard told Wired, although the publication was not able to confirm the veracity of his statement.
Muldrow did eventually receive $2,000 on Cash App with the note, “For Michigan Gotv 742 doors paid in full.”
Shortly after that payment, Jones texted her, “Please let wired know that you’ve been paid asap.”
More from Rolling Stone
Best of Rolling Stone
Sign up for RollingStone’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Leave a Comment