Protest Postcards and More: ULine

This topic came to my attention via a video by Molly Lee of Optimistic Soap. After watching the video, I did a deep dive to verify. They are even worse than suspected.

Uline, America's largest supplier of cardboard boxes and other packing supplies, is owned by Liz and Dick Uihlein. Richard Uihlein, 78, is an heir to the Schlitz beer fortune. He and his wife, Elizabeth, 79, started Uline together, but Liz is the hands-on president of Uline.

In 2021 and 2022, the owners of Uline were the country's largest donor to extremist political groups. They and the groups they support have used dark money tactics to fight against the legitimacy of our elections, COVID safety protocols, abortion rights, and more. The ULINE founders even gave millions to the groups that stormed the US Capitol and organized the Jan 6 insurrection. They are especially transfixed against trans rights since they are avid FOX watchers.

The Uihleins continue to use their wealth to funnel millions of dollars into the most extreme right-wing politicians and movements in the United States. They support a network of websites that resemble news outlets but that make one-sided attacks against their opponents.

They are ranked by the donation-tracking site OpenSecrets.org as the third largest donor in the United States to outside political spending organizations in 2024. They contributed $144 million to conservative groups in the 2024 election cycle.

Liz and Dick Uihlein

In each ULINE catalog Liz includes a “letter from the president” where she touts her ultra-conservative views to millions of ULINE customers. ULINE is her personal platform for spreading disinformation and hate.

Even though they rail against immigration, it came out in March of this year that Uline had been accused of employing dozens of workers from Mexico at its US warehouses under visas not intended for labour. Apparently, Uline shuttles workers from its Mexico operations to warehouses in Wisconsin and other states under tourist visas and B1 business visas, typically used for training purposes. But they aren’t there for training. They are working the busy season. What hypocrites!

As Molly Lee said, “If you believe in democracy, equality, and basic human decency… this is not who we should be enriching… Let’s flex our collective power. We have to stop funding our own oppression!”

Also from Molly:

✅ What You Can Do:
1. If you run a business: Switch to a more aligned supplier.
2. If you work for one: Ask: “Hey — are we still buying from Uline? I’d love to explore other suppliers that better match our values.”
3. Share why it matters. Most people simply don’t know.

As for me, personally, I still get catalogs from Uline even though I haven’t ordered from them for over a decade. I haven’t been able to stop them. As much as I prefer to do my part towards reducing waste, I now don’t mind that they are wasting money shipping that monstrosity to me. That’s a little less they’ll have for funding fascism. This year, I’ll probably use the catalog with some kiddos to make an anti-fascist Christmas tree where all that’s required is folding a ton of pages. The paper is not soft enough to serve as toilet paper.