Then, last month, Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor in Florida, took action that threatened to derail that movement: angry that Bob Chapek, the chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, had spoken out against a Florida law called the Parental Rights in Education or, according to critics, the “Don’t Say Gay” law, the governor retaliated. In a special session of the legislature, Mr. DeSantis rammed through a bill to strip Disney, one of Florida’s largest private employers, of the autonomous district it had administered near Orlando for 55 years.
And this week, Politico released a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion showing that a majority of judges voted against Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that made abortion a constitutional right in the United States. There is no topic in American politics more inflammatory than abortion, and with some 60 to 70 percent of Americans supporting Roe’s retention, it seems there would be mounting pressure on corporate executives to adopt a policy. take a stance in favor of abortion rights.
In this case, however, there is likely a back pressure that is hard to ignore. Thirteen states have passed so-called trigger laws that will ban or restrict access to abortion almost immediately if Roe is destroyed. A dozen more are ready to follow the same path. Pretty much all of these are red states, run by governors who have no doubt seen what Mr. DeSantis did to Disney. In retrospect, following workers’ lead in championing climate action, racial justice and the #MeToo movement was a no-brainer for companies compared to taking a public stance on abortion.
A movement in turbulent times
When the term “employee activism” began to gain popularity in early 2010, young workers — millennials mostly in white-collar jobs — were leading the charge. They had had enough of both corporate greed and corporate indifference to things they cared about. Millennials are now between 26 and 41 years old and make up a large part of the company’s workforce.
“Millennials are liberal, by a margin of nearly two to one over previous generations,” said Charlotte Alter, the author of “The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For,” a book on the millennial generation. “They want to work for companies that align with their values. And they understand how much power they have in the system. They see their work as a lever they can pull on.”
