ACTION ALERT KAREN SILKWOOD FuND Silkwood-The Movie-Is Coming • • • The feature film, Silkwood, directed by Mike Nichols and will be better able to educate and organize more people in your starring Meryl Streep as Karen Silkwood, with Kurt Russell and community about: Cher, will be opening in 250 major theaters in mid-December and another 1250 theatres in January. The film will be seen by "I consider Silkwood's contamination to be one of the worst an estimated 50 million people, and Streep is said to give the cases with which I am familiar, of body contamination to performance of her career- this movie promises to be one of the plutonium with respect to the consistency, repetition of most controversial and discussed topics of the year. Many people exposure, and contamination of the home. ... I have never will be pondering the questions it raises. known of an operation in this industry so poorly operated For years the story of Karen Silkwood has been a focus for from the standpoint of radiation protection. It is difficult for constituencies concerned with nuclear safety, workers' and wom­ me to comprehend why the AEC, and, more recently, the NRC en's rights, and civil liberties. The Silkwood case remains as permitted this facility . .. to continue in operation for such a critically important today as it has been since her contamination long time." and death in 1974, and the issues it raises affect every local Dr. Karl Z. Morgan community. We hope you will agree that the movie provides an known as the "father of Health Physics" important opportunity to share concerns and shape political debate in your local area. • The Need for Safe Energy-The Silkwood story graphically The Film Will Not TeD The Whole Story illustrates the continuing hazards of the nuclear industry; The film primarily addresses the life and struggle of Karen • The Rights of Union Members-Karen was a member and Silkwood, and it promises to be a powerfully moving and local leader of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union. dramatic story. It does not, however, deal with the full range of She was working with national union representatives on a serious issues raised by her life and death, some of which have strategy to win safer working conditions and a stronger contract. Her employer committed labor violations in an effort to crush "Karen's effort and her ultimate fate is an important symbol the labor activities; of the collective efforts of American workers. The truth • The Importance of Women 's Rights-Karen Silkwood was surrounding her union battle and death must be told. If we becoming an outspoken and assertive woman, taking increasing fail in this task the labor movement struggle for a safe and responsibility for herself and others; because women have not healthy workplace will have been dealt a serious blow." had a tradition of leadership, this led to all-too familiar attacks Tony Mazzochi on her and her personal life; Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union • The Preservation of Civil Liberties-Karen Silkwood was the victim of a private conspiracy to deprive her and other labor organizers of their civil rights; (continued on next page) not yet been resolved. The film concludes with her death, and does not incorporate established facts uncovered in Congres­ sional and private investigations and in an eleven-week trial. The public needs to hear the whole story. We Need Your Help To Share The Truth With Others Within the limits of a two-hour story format, the film cannot include all of the concerns important to the many people who are working today to counter the forces that led to Karen's contami­ nation with radioactive plutonium and to her mysterious death. You can take advantage of the public interest in the film to lead your community a few steps further in awareness about these concerns. We invite you to work with the Karen Silkwood Fund and other organizations who are coordinating a national educa­ tional and petition campaign keyed to the showing of the film in your community. The Film Presents An Opportunity Outside the U.S. Supreme Court after his daughter"s case was argued. Bill In the wake of the Hollywood promotion and the media Silkwood. with al/orney Art Angel (left). met with the national media and coverage of the film content, you and other concerned activists expressed cautious optimism that. one day. the family would find justice.

Karen Silkwood Fund November 1983 A Project of the Christie Institute 1324 N. Capitol St., NW Washington D.C. (202)797-8106 • • . With Your Help The Whole Story Will Be Told

(continued from previous page) hold the nuclear industry responsible for radiation injuries due to • The Importance of Worker Health and Safety and A Union reckless, fraudulent or malicious behavior. Twenty state govern­ Contract-The Silkwood story dramatizes the plight of workers ments supported the Silkwood family in the Supreme Court, handling hazardous substances and the inadequacy of regula­ while the Atomic Industrial Forum and the Reagan administra­ tions protecting them; it further demonstrates that workers are tion argued on behalf of Kerr-McGee. powerless without a union; The Silkwood decision was the first time a citizen successfully • The Dangers of Nuclear Prolzferation-Silkwood got into sued a nuclear corporation for an off-site contamination, but the serious trouble because she uncovered information that demon­ entire industry is now attempting to exempt itself from the most strated a sizeable amount of plutonium--enough to make sev­ traditional state tort laws protecting health and safety. No other eral medium grade nuclear bombs-was missing from the plant industry is exempt from these laws. The implications for local where she worked. communities near nuclear facilities are clear: federal regulation did not prevent or punish the hazards and abuses at the Kerr­ What ReaDy Happened to Karen Silkwood McGee facility. States, therefore, must have the right to penal­ Case #1-Contamination: Karen Silkwood was a 28-year-old ize and curb such wanton disregard for the health and safety of laboratory analyst and local union leader who worked in a Kerr­ their citizens. McGee plutonium processing plant in Oklahoma. Investigators have concluded that she was killed in a hit-and-run crash in 0' bet 1914 white-en-Toote to deliverdocumented evidena "A..s...the--nwllement..against ~uclear paweuncuases, in-siut,-t-he-.. of plant safety violations to a union official and a New York nuclear companies and law enforcement agencies are likely to Times reporter. Her documents disappeared from her car the move against the protestors as they moved against other night of her death. The previous week Silkwood and her home activists in the past. The Silkwood Case then is not only a were contaminated with radioactive plutonium, and an autopsy matter of individual justice but a test of whether we are able later revealed that the exposure levels were high enough to cause to fashion remedies to protect those who seek to exercise cancer. effectively their First Amendment rights." The demand for an official investigation of her death and Morton Halperin contamination began with her union, joined by the National American Civil Liberties Union Organization for Women. The official investigations by the AEC, NRC, FBI, Justice Department, and Congress left major issues unresolved; the anti-nuclear, environmental civil liberties, Case #2-Civil Liberties: The Silkwood investigation, in a second and religious communities then joined the effort to generate an Silkwood case, focused on the criminal conspiracy and civil independent Silkwood investigation which developed the legal liberties violations, such as wiretapping, surveillance, harass­ case. These forces came together as the Karen Silkwood Fund, ment, and cover-up of the facts, as well as interference with which carried the issue to the American public. Silkwood's right to organize, to speak freely, and to travel safely The estate of Karen Silkwood sued Kerr-McGee and after an on the highway. The investigation uncovered a network of extensive investigation and trial the nuclear corporation was private organizations around the country devoted to collecting found guilty and liable for her contamination. In an effort to negative, and frequently erroneous, information on nuclear curb Kerr-McGee's "willful, wanton and reckless" disregard for safety proponents and other "dissidents" (citizens lawfully en­ public safety, an Oklahoma jury in 1979 awarded $10 million in gaged in political activity which tends to raise doubts about the punitive damages to her three children. nuclear industry). Their "intelligence" information is provided to a network of Evidence introduced in the 1979 trial established Kerr­ police organizations, government agencies, and private indus­ McGee's callous disregard for worker and public safety, includ­ ---rng-contamination-ofiitenrlly hundreds-of-worke1 s, contamina­ tries. The methods used by these organizations infrin ~on constitutionally protected personal and civil rights. The rights of tion of a local restaurant and local waters used for fishing and citizens to publicize the health, safety, and environmental haz­ swimming, improper storage of radioactive waste and improper ards of nuclear power, it remains clear, have been and are being threatened by the nuclear industry, with the cooperation of the "The benefits derived from ... the use of radioactive materials federal government. far exceeds any risk that radiation workers are subjected to The second case addresses the question of whether Karen was under normal conditions." intentionally contaminated and killed. A Supreme Court ruling from Kerr-McGee's instruction manual last year, however, makes it impossible to bring the case to trial under the U.S. Civil Rights Act. The Court ruled that political and/or union organizers like Karen Silkwood have no protection storage of plutonium, and hiring of unskilled and untrained against conspiracies under the Act. This has revealed a serious workers without adequate education to the dangers of pluto­ inadequacy in the current law. nium. In addition, evidence verified the falsification of quality Certain developments in the first case, however, may yet control records for the plutonium fuel rods (made for an experi­ provide an opportunity to bring the second case to trial under mental fast breeder reactor), and a missing amount of plutonium different legal statutes. sufficient to build several nuclear bombs. The $10 million damage award was overturned in the Circuit What About Her Death? Court and is now on appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court which In 1974 the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union asked heard arguments on October 4, 1983. The appeal to the Supreme a professional accident investigator to assess Karen's car crash. Court does not dispute the simple fact that Kerr-MNcGee is After studying the car, the road, and the autopsy, he concluded guilty. At issue is the legal right of state and local governments to that Karen was hit by another vehicle and run off the road. Later, the Silkwood legal team worked with skilled profes­ sional investigators who also concluded after several years of work that Karen was run off the road in an effort to get her documented evidence. The movie, which ends with her death, will not convey the results of these investigations. Future Political Issues Work on the Silkwood case and actions in the court have pointed out some major shortcomings in the law affecting the general public: • More local accountability is needed for the nuclear industry -Congress must act to give local communities and states greater control over the nuclear industry because its activities affect public health and safety. Federal regulation has proven to r be woefully inadequate; "The Silkwood case . .. lives as a symbol offeminist concerns about health and safety in the workplace. Whether you call it

The day after the 1979 court victory in Oklahoma. this sign was planted by friends killing the messenger or blaming the victim, both in life and and supporters next to the culvert where Karen Silkwood was killed. She was death, Karen Silkwood was castigated for daring to point out memorialized as a person "who did something we all could do, something we all the questionable practices of her employer. ... Silkwood broke should do. She chose to stand for truth instead of deception." the stereotype that women on the job will tolerate exploitation." Eleanor Smeal Silkwood Books Available former President, NOW If you want to find out what really happened to Ka­ ren Silkwood, two excellent books have been published. • Environmental protection standards should be strengthened -Current federal standards for contamination and exposure to The Killing of Karen Silkwood, by Richard Rashke, nuclear radiation are not adequate; and Who Killed Karen Silkwood?, by Howard Kohn, • Protection is needed against private civil liberties conspiracies are well documented, politically sophisticated analyses -Last year the Supreme Court ruled that political and union of the facts and investigations of the case as well as the activists like Karen Silkwood have no protection under the Civil campaign to vindicat~ Silkwood. Rights Act against such conspiracies; Your local library should have the books-check • Public awareness-Concern aroused by the'film and focused them out. Or if you want to buy a copy, try your local by effective local education and organizing can help to build a bookstores. Rashke, in hard cover, costs $11.95 constituency for needed action by the U.S. Congress. (Houghton Mifflin Publishers); Kohn, in trade quality paperback, costs $8 .95 (Simon & Schuster Publishers). What You Can Do For bulk orders (five or more), contact the Silkwood While Silkwood is showing in your community and people are Fund. We have copies of both books, authgraphed by thinking about her story, you can reach out to deepen their the authors, available. understanding of the real issues and activate more people to (continued on next page)

I WANT TO HELP GET OUT THE TRUTH ABOUT KAREN SILKWOOD

__ Please send the Silkwood Organizers Kit. Name __ Please give me the names of other people in my area willing to work on local educational and organizing projects. Street

__ Please send a Silkwood Organizers Kit to other activists. (List City State Zip names and addresses on a separate sheet of paper.) __ Please place me on your mailing list for future information. Telephone: ----'---'------_,_---'-----­ __ Please send me a price list for Karen Silkwood books, buttons, Home Work posters, bumper stickers, T-shirts and literature. __ I will support the work of the Silkwood Fund with a tax­ Organizational affiliation deductible gift (Make check payable to Karen Silkwood Please mail to: Karen Silkwood Fund Fund). 1324 North Capitol Street Washington, D.C., 20002 __ $25 __ $50 __ $100 Other ______Telephone: (202) 797-8106 (continued from previous page) contact the Silkwood Fund to receive an organizer's kit detailing work locally on related issues through your local organizations. ideas for local activities and providing resources for your work. Specifically your work could involve the following: • Convene an ad hoc coalition to work on local Silkwood The Karen Silkwood Fund, a project of the Christie Institute, serves activities. It could include organizations focusing on the environ­ as the clearinghouse for legal, fundraising, organizing, and public ment, safe energy, women's rights, civil liberties, and peace in education components of the Silkwood campaign. addition to unions, student groups and religious organizations; Karen Silkwood Fund • Work with local media to tell the whole Silkwood story; 1324 N. Capitol St., NW Washington, DC 20002 • Pass out leaflets (available from the Silkwood Fund) and set (202) 797-8106 up information tables outside theaters where the film is showing; • Raise money for your organization by having a theater party; Operations Committee • Organize a public event for a Silkwood speaker (the Silkwood Sara Nelson Bob Alvarez Fund has a speakers bureau--contact us). Project Director Environmental Policy Center National Organization for Women Morton Halperin Organizer's Packet Available Anne Zill American Civil Liberties Chairperson We need your help in distributing this information into your Stewart Mott Associates Kitty Tucker Supporters of Silkwood networks and communities. We hope the issue will help you to Rev. William Davis, S.J. coalesce various individuals and groups in your areas for ongoing Christie Institute Rev. William Callahan. S.J. Quixote Center cooperation on local issues. Together we can create significant Edith Tiger public awareneSS about these important iSSUeS. National Emergency Civi l Liberties Tony Mazzocchi Committee Oil. Chemical and Atomic Workers Union If you would like to join us in this national effort,_ Jease -!=~~======~=====~~==~-~.._-~- The story of Karen Silkwood is now a feature film coming to your area soon. But Silkwood, starring Meryl Streep, will not tell the whole story. Help us get the truth out.

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