That’s not how signing works.
I’m not sure how effective this can be as the whole point of names signed is that they are real. A claim of signatures is not very useful.
Cynically, every time I see a “secret list of signers” I just figure the number is zero or a bazillion as it doesn’t matter.
It’s like Nixon’s “silent majority” of supporters.
Not everyone has the luxury of being able to go up against their employer without repercussions that are worse than the original complaint. But that doesn't mean people should just have to suck it up and put up with unjust (and perhaps illegal) behavior.
If I can’t disclose the identity of 21 people and have no way of verifying that 21 people did someone, I can just not mention that part.
The term "silent majority" referred to people in the 1968 and 1972 elections who held moderate-to-conservative views that weren't represented in the mass protests and domestic terrorism of the time. Considering that Nixon won both presidential elections--1972 in an utter landslide--it turned out that the "silent majority" actually existed--quite unlike these anonymous signatories.
Not everyone wants to make a career change, especially not folks in the space business.
P.S. I was also offered a position at Sikorsky working on helicopter designs.
Now if you've spent your career in a very narrow subset of that field and not developed transferrable skills along the way, I'm not sure the fault is entirely the employer's.
(I recognize that I am toeing the line here as to whether or not I should even comment here.)
Sure, another option is to not say anything at all, and just quietly quit and go to another company, but that doesn't really solve the problem; it just makes it someone else's problem.
And if the pool of companies is small enough, you also run the risk of these bad behaviors cropping up everywhere, with nowhere else to go.
Writing an anonymous letter because you willingly signed a statement that you wouldn't is - well how can I put this - not something I can respect.
Aerospace is one of those fields where many people feel like they are moving backwards if they leave because of the status/prestige attached to it.
Some fields definitely have that reputation more than others. I don't know anything about BO specifically, but I wouldn't advise anyone to go into aerospace if they wanted a low-key hipster culture.
>if people had to leave their field and move to another one because the culture at most companies in their field is toxic.
Some people do exactly this. Oil and manufacturing are examples engineers will sometimes avoid because of the culture associated with them.
I might agree with you if they were better organized and had more leverage. But right now, they aren't and they don't.
They signed non-disparagement contracts.
uh what? their heirs?
How is that even enforceable?
That said, this should be laughed out of court regardless of the age of the "heirs". In Europe you could reasonably expect that to happen with minimal bother, but in the US I expect the employee would end up paying a six figure sum for the privilege of getting the case thrown out.