Metaldyne has signed neutrality agreements with two different unions: the United Auto Workers (“UAW”) and the United Steelworkers of America (“Steelworkers”). Which agreement applies to any particular facility probably depends upon the type of work being performed there.

Under the neutrality agreement between Metaldyne and the Steelworkers, Metaldyne must hand over its employees to the union by purposefully making it “easier” for the Steelworkers to represent them. Provisions of the agreement include:

• No Secret Ballot Election: Workers are denied the ability to vote on union representation through a secret ballot election. Rather, union operatives are allowed to sign up workers under a “card check” authorization scheme. Once union officials sign up a majority of the workers, the company will automatically declare the union the exclusive representative of all the workers, even those who did not sign a card. In “card check” unionization drives, workers are often misled, harassed, or threatened into signing union authorization cards.

• Access to Information: Metaldyne must provide union operatives with wide access to company facilities and to personal information about employees, including their home addresses. Armed with a company-provided list of the names and addresses of each employee, union organizers can conduct home visits to pressure employees to sign union authorization cards.

• Gag Rule: Metaldyne, including its managers and supervisors, is forbidden from saying anything negative about the union or unionization during an organizing drive. Employees are only permitted to hear one side of the story: the version the union officials want employees to hear.

• Imposition on Other Employers: The USWA neutrality agreement requires Metaldyne to impose the agreement on other companies with which it affiliates or with which it engages in joint ventures. If another company refuses to hand its work force over to the union (as Metaldyne has), then Metaldyne is barred from affiliating with that company.

Metaldyne also signed a neutrality agreement with the UAW in February, 2003. The exact provisions of this document are unknown at this time, but past experience with UAW neutrality agreements suggests that it probably includes terms similar to those above.

If Metaldyne and either of the unions can successfully cause a majority of employees in a facility to sign union authorization cards, the union becomes the “exclusive bargaining representative” of all employees, even those who did not sign a card and do not desire such “representation.” Unless the facility is in a Right to Work state (click here for a list of Right to Work states), all employees will undoubtedly be forced to pay hundred of dollars in union dues and fees each year or be fired from their jobs. The union cannot be removed (decertified) for at least one year or during most of the three-year life of a collective bargaining agreement.

Employees’ rights of free choice are sacrificed and lost under such coercive neutrality agreements. Instead of being able to freely choose for themselves whether they desire union representation through a secret ballot election, Metaldyne employees are having unionization imposed on them from the top down by the joint efforts of union officials and management.

The Foundation has established a Neutrality Task Force to help employees who find themselves forced (or potentially forced) into unwanted union representation as a result of these devices. The Foundation stands ready, willing and able to help employees who are victims or potential victims of these schemes. Workers who wish to request legal assistance may write us, call us toll-free at 800-336-3600, or send an e-mail message to legal@nrtw.org. Address your request for assistance to Legal Department.

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, is assisting thousands of employees in more than 300 cases nationwide.

For more, see our “Neutrality Agreement” Resouces Section.