Silkwood is a movie that was released in 1983 and was based on the true story of Karen Silkwood. This story raises serious issues associated with worker safety and corporate profits. The story sheds light on a situation in which there is a true need for organized labor representation. The story also highlights the moral depths that an organization can sink to maintain profits.
The movie is centered on a woman in her twenties named Karen Silkwood. She lives in rural Oklahoma and works at a facility that supplies fuel to nuclear power plants. She is divorced with 3 children that do not live with her. She lives with a friend and her boyfriend and they all work together at the nuclear facility. From the beginning of the film, there were clear distinctions made between the workers and management. Karen was very comfortable with her fellow workers but was generally conflicted with management personnel. The film begins with story line involving her personal life issues. As the characters and storylines are developing, we see how the workplace is operated. The workers have to wear several layers of protective clothing and have to be scanned for radiation when leaving the production floor. Most employees work double shifts and are required to work overtime on the weekends to meet production demands. One of Karen’s elder co-workers gets exposed to radiation and has to be thoroughly scrubbed and cleaned. She needed to be tested for radiation levels and Karen comes to the conclusion that her coworker was not screened appropriately. This begins Karen’s interest and involvement in the safety conditions of the workers in the facility. As Karen personal issues continue, she is exposed to radiation at work and must be scrubbed and evaluated. At this point she joins the union representatives and tirelessly works to acquire the vote necessary to certify the Union status of the plants workers. She works with the National Union to help them with the issues they are facing in the workplace. She also promises them evidence that the company is doctoring production data to produce unstable and dangerous fuel rods. The National Union would like her to get evidence proving her claim so they can work with a journalist to make the issue public. As she works towards exposing the irresponsible mismanagement of the plant, her fellow workers begin to resent her. She is only trying to do what’s best for them, but they resent her because they fear to lose their jobs if the plant shuts down. She is working to protect workers from deadly working conditions but she finds that she is fighting the battle alone. The workers want her to stop her investigation to save their jobs. Management wants her to stop her investigation to protect their profits and to sweep any liability under the rug. She is bound by her morality and continues on with her investigation. She would not back off and greatly underestimated the extent the company would protect itself and its profits.
She is then found to be deeply exposed to radiation and it is found all over her house. It is clear that she was targeted and purposely exposed to lethal amounts of radiation as some kind of deterrent. Surprisingly she is still not deterred and plans to meet with the journalist to get the story out. The movie ends with her being killed on the road in an apparent car accident. She fought for what is right and was disposed of because it wasn’t profitable.
In this film, management was portrayed as the cold distinct leaders of the workers. Early on they seemed to be focused on production. As the film progresses they seem inhumane and cruel. By the end of the film, management was the monster that would do anything to protect itself and its profits. Questionably removing her from the picture was a simple solution with absolutely no consequence.
In the beginning of the movie, Union leaders did not seem to play a significant role. As the movie progressed, Karen and Union leaders became resented both by management and co-workers. They stood to fight for the workers against corporate profits and corruption. But the workers didn’t see the picture as she did. They thought she was trying to shut the company down. They saw her as an enemy and feared her more than they feared the threat to their health. Since she stood alone, removing her removed the issue.
I sincerely agree with the issues represented and highlighted in the movie. There should be higher standard of safety requirements and there should be some organized representation that keeps the company and the employee true to a legitimate standard. Companies are in existence to earn profits, and should not be trusted to prioritize anything above profits; sadly even human life.
Although today’s labor situation is significantly different, the lessons of the past are still valid. Unions are less popular today than they were when this film was made. Companies are offering many of the benefits that Unions historically provided. Manufacturing jobs have been replaced with service jobs. The historic standard of moving forward as a group and collectively agreeing on common needs is not as subscribed to as in the past. People are more opportunistic and self-serving. They will leave an organization to find something better or find a way to individually progress rather than submit to common interest. This includes workers, union members, and management.
In my experience, I find that competiveness and getting ahead of peers are significantly more prevalent in today’s world than standing together to fight for some watered down version of “collectively bargained justice”. Unions should reasonably and honorably fight for justice and fairness. Once it becomes a bureaucratic method of control, than it loses its value and can be perceived to be a way to compensate a group standing together less than individuals can find for themselves.