Latest media attack on Trump comes as union workers rally to his banner

A Pennsylvania Shell facility recently hosted President Trump. Employees who chose to attend were paid overtime, while those absent did not receive it.

But workers who stayed away were given the option of paid time off.

24/7 anti-Trump CNN cast the innocent phenomenon as an outrage. The non-story was picked up by numerous online sites like Axios, Huffpost, and Slate. Esquire and Newsweek hyped it.

Newspapers including the Washington Post and New York Times also desperately pumped oxygen into it. The Drudge Report linked to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette portrayal.

(A pre-event memo instructed employees to observe basic decorum while on the premises. Many writers treated that as somehow scandalous.)

There's no issue, here. The alternatives are 'meeting mandatory, without pay' and 'all employees paid, whether or not on job site.'

Paying workers who sat at home would be unfair to those in attendance. It was right to compensate employees who gave up their leisure time. 

As a United Food and Commercial Workers chief steward, I opposed the company practice of forcing workers to attend official events without compensation.

There was no issue here. Just an excuse for observers prejudiced against America's president to pretend anger.

Tomorrow, they'll find something else. Bet on that.