Why I Refuse Uline (and why you should too!)

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?

Why Should I Refuse Uline?

The Uihleins are ranked by the donation-tracking site OpenSecrets.org as the fifth-largest donors in the United States to outside political spending organizations, having contributed a whopping $62.8 million to conservative groups in the 2020 election cycle.

• They gave millions to one of the groups that stormed the US Capitol on Jan 6 2021.
• They were the largest Trump donors in Wisconsin, and Mrs. Uhlein took a fundraising role with the Trump campaign.

• They assail transgender rights and ignore public health recommendations.
• They bankroll partisan newspapers that try to disguise as “local reporting.”
• They funded Roy Moore’s campaign in Alabama—even donating after he was accused of sexual misconduct with underage girls.

It goes beyond private ideology and donations—in each ULINE catalog Liz Uihlein brings her conservative politics directly to her customer base with a “letter from the president” where she broadcasts her ultra-conservative views openly to millions of ULINE customers.

Shopping Uline is directly supporting extreme right-wing politics.

While we can’t vet the political affiliations of every company below, rest assured that none of them are as explicitly right-wing as ULINE.