Silkwood Page #4

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between now and

the election in October.

We lost a lot of members...

since the strike

didn't work out last year.

So now I want to know...

who can help me?

They said if you're really

worried about it...

you're welcome to get involved.

You could be on the committee.

What committee?

Negotiating committee.

- You?

- Yeah.

On the union

negotiating committee.

Karen, let me give you a hint.

Don't flash 'em.

It turns you on.

Yeah, but I'm not management.

- I'm as smart as Hurley is.

- Just as tactful.

You sound like my mother.

You don't just stand

toe to toe with someone...

call him a motherf***er,

and get anywhere.

I'll keep it in mind.

Do you...

Do you feel different

about me...

since I got cooked?

What do you mean?

You know.

Well...

I still want to f*** you.

I sure as hell don't want

to f*** Thelma anymore.

Oh, Jesus.

I'll give you something.

- Where are they?

- They're next door.

Oh, God.

Think you made

enough noise there, Dolly?

You two ain't exactly

a silent movie yourself.

This here is Angela.

She's a beautician.

Well, hi there.

Personally, I don't see

anything wrong with it.

No. Neither do I.

Guess it figures, doesn't it?

I can handle it.

Me, too.

So why are we talking about it?

What if we wrote them?

What if we wrote

the national union. ..

told them

what's going on down here?

Maybe they'd help us.

We're not going to win

the election by ourselves.

We gotta do something, I think.

Management is putting up

these memos now...

saying no union business

on our breaks.

That's our own time, Quincy.

Yeah. They think they can

get away with anything.

I'll see you in the morning.

Sounds like they're trying

to get rid of you.

They're going to get

a big fight if they try.

Karen, you ever been downtown?

There are two big streets.

One's called Kerr,

and one's called McGee.

And that's how I see it.

They own the state.. .

they own everybody

in this state.. .

and they own practically

everybody I work on.

What do you think?

What kind of

make-up base do you use?

The kind I always use.

I don't mind somebody taking

my beers if they replace it.

You're making a big deal

out of everything lately.

Everything's going to hell

around here.

Meaning you're out of beer?

Meaning you're on

the goddamn phone night and day.

Heavy.

What did you do to your face?

Doesn't she look great?

Looks like a f***ing corpse.

That's not very nice.

It's not very nice to make fun

of what a person does.

If that's what a beautician

does, I'll take mine rare.

Drew, Angela works at Thayer's.

Funeral home?

Hell, why didn't you say so?

Drew, I can always tell...

when a dead person I beautify

worked for Kerr McGee...

because they all look like

they died before they died.

Why don't you lay off her?

Jesus Christ.

I bet there's something to that.

To what?

About people looking like

they died before they died.

You know, plutonium and all.

Drew?

Drew, what's your opinion?

It's fine.

The other one was fine, too.

They're all fine.

Honey, this is really important.

This is a meeting

with the national union...

and the Atomic Energy

Commission.

The national union is paying...

for our plane tickets

and our hotel room.

He's just jealous.

Is this meeting

in Washington state...

or Washington, D.C.?

D.C.

The one you got on

is much better.

OK. I will wear this to the AEC.

And what shall I wear

on the plane?

Something that won't wrinkle.

Like a shroud, maybe.

I get so tired of your jokes.

Sir, would you mind

putting your tray down, please?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Miss, how much is this?

It comes with your ticket.

we're going to

union headquarters first...

and you'll meet Max Richter,

who runs our Washington office.

Then we'll go over what

you're telling the AEC tomorrow.

Is the company going to

find out about this?

It's highly unlikely.

Whenever the AEC Inspector

comes to the plant...

anybody says anything to him,

the company finds out.

Yeah, right.

Maybe you could bring that up.

Could we stop over there?

Excuse me.

Could we stop? Please?

Yeah. Sure. OK.

Look this way. Straight ahead.

Yeah, that's good. Perfect.

Bobby Beckwith

tore a hole in his glove.

Let me see

if I can read this here.

I think it says July the 23rd.

Isn't that about right, Morgan?

Yeah. That was right before

Karen came back...

and they tried to pin

the contamination on her.

The plutonium soaked through

his coveralls to his arm.

what the hell

is going on out there?

It's National "Something" Day.

Can't breathe.

- What?

- Can't breathe.

There's a lot of stuff here

about the respirators.

We get these contaminations...

and sometimes

we got to wear these masks...

for a week, 10 days,

sometimes 12 hours a day.

Are you working 12 hours?

They're late on the contract.

Running double shifts.

And they got us working

in these respirators...

and I want to tell you,

it gets real hot.

And they don't fit.

I mean, mine doesn't fit.

What you people have

brought in today is wonderful.

Excuse me.

I just wanted to say one thing.

That was the thing

about the showers.

There are only two showers

for 75 workers per shift.

And it's not really clean.

Everybody wanted me

to say something about that.

Right. It's probably best

if we stick to the stuff...

that's really connected

with the radiation.

What about

that contaminated truck?

They cut up this hot truck

and buried it.

Right. That was in your letter.

I've got to catch my plane.

Paul will take care of you.

The only way

we can get enough votes...

to keep the union

in your plant.. .

is on the health

and safety issue.

So we'll get a couple of

hotshot doctors in to speak.

You keep telling

Paul all this stuff.

And try to get

everything clear...

for the AEC tomorrow, all right?

I'll be back in a second.

Max?

I'm going to go find a restroom.

Excuse me.

There's one more thing.

I work in metallography.

In X-rays.

And sometimes we...

Quite frankly,

we have negatives altered.

The negatives of the welds

in the fuel rods.

They take a weld

and cross section it.

Then they photograph it,

and there's a defect.

Then they just touch it up.

Touch it up?

With a Pentel pen.

Right on the negatives.

They fill in the white spots.

You're talking about

X-rays of fuel rods?

The fuel rods

they're sending up to that...

We're sending up to

that breeder reactor...

they're testing in Hanford.

Do you know what that means?

I know they shouldn't do it.

Excuse us.

Why don't we go in there?

In an ordinary nuclear plant...

you can have meltdowns,

poisonous gas, and dead people.

That's nothing compared to what

can go wrong with a breeder.

You put defective fuel rods

in a breeder reactor...

for all we know, the whole

state could be wiped out.

Can you get

documentation of that?

I guess so.

If you could get documentation,

that would be very important.

We'll set you up with a reporter

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