Secret Ballot Watch

Chances are, he’ll say “not much.”  

Getts is an employee of the Dana Corporation in Fort Wayne, Ind. He has seen firsthand the pressure, badgering, and intimidation that come with the card check process for union organization, a major part of the act. 

In March, he testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions about what he saw:

“Union organizers waited for us in the break room, sat with us at lunch whether we wanted them to or not, and walked us to our cars at the end of the day.

“The entire time they were constantly badgering us to sign the cards. …

“I refused to sign the card every time they asked, and I know many others shared my sentiment.

“But none of that mattered to the UAW, because the pressure did not let up. 

“In fact, one day, an official approached me again claiming fifty percent of the plant had signed -- so now I was going to have to sign the card to ‘get my information in the system.’

“I signed the card then because I thought I had to. 

“I didn’t learn until later that even then, I should not have been forced to sign the card. …

“I hope you’ll vote to defeat the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act.”

Larry Getts, testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, 03.10.09

(Watch a news report about Getts and other Dana employees fighting the intimidation here.) 

Imagine pressure tactics like this occurring in workplaces across the country. Shop floors, warehouses, showrooms, and offices suddenly become tense battlegrounds. This can affect morale and even productivity, which eventually can affect an already weakened economy. 

Sadly, even after hearing this account, lawmakers have continued to push for the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, which makes you wonder what they really think about employees and their “free” choices. It’s just another reason why EFCA should fail.

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