To the editor,
I’ve worked at General Electric’s Lynn plant for six years. I’m proud of the work I do, performing some of the highest-skill welding in the facility — the kind that demands precision, focus, and pride.
I became a welder because I believe in building things that matter. My cousin lost his life in a military training accident involving an aircraft, and ever since, that loss has given me a deep understanding of how much quality matters in what we build. I carry that lesson and my cousin’s memory with me every day at work.
But recently, I learned that at GE, your skill and dedication can be erased in a single moment — not for anything you do at work, but for what you say on your own time.
In September, I made a post on a private Facebook group, not as a GE employee, but as a brother. A well-known political influencer had made comments that targeted people like my sister, who is transgender. I reacted emotionally, as anyone would when someone you love is attacked. What I said wasn’t illegal, it wasn’t a threat, and it had nothing to do with GE. It was me, standing up for my family.
Four days later, the company suspended me for “workplace violence.” A few weeks after that, I was fired. The decision didn’t come from local management. It came from somewhere far up the corporate chain — from people who never met me, never asked what actually happened, and never considered the kind of worker I’ve been.
GE said it was about their “Code of Conduct.” But this wasn’t about policy. It was about power.
Because if this could happen to me — someone who’s never had a disciplinary issue, who’s respected on the job, and who spoke out only to defend a loved one — it could happen to anyone.
This wasn’t about protecting the company’s reputation. It was about sending a message: that management can decide which opinions are acceptable and which ones will cost you your job. That’s not leadership, that’s intimidation.
I know not everyone in my shop agrees with me politically, and that’s fine. But what’s been incredible is how many of my coworkers — people across the political spectrum — have stood by me because they see what’s really at stake.
They know that today it’s me; tomorrow it could be anyone who says something a manager doesn’t like. They know this is bigger than one post or one person — it’s about whether corporations get to police our personal lives, silence us through fear, and punish us for being human.
We all have moments when emotion gets the better of us. We all have people we’d do anything to protect. That’s not a flaw — that’s what makes us human. What’s dangerous is when a company uses those moments as an excuse to destroy a worker’s livelihood.
No one should have to choose between defending their family and keeping their job.
When I look at what’s happening across this country — people being punished for speaking up, workers being told to stay quiet and compliant — I see a pattern. Companies talk about “spirit” and “values,” but what they really mean is obedience.
That’s not the America I believe in. That’s not the America any of us should settle for.
This isn’t about left or right. It’s about fairness, freedom, and dignity. It’s about whether ordinary people still have a voice when those in power decide to make an example of us.
I’m standing up not just for myself, but for every worker who’s ever felt silenced. Because what happened to me shouldn’t happen to anyone.
Dan Reynolds
GE Lynn welder and
member of IUE-CWA Local 201
