Streep Headlines
Evening Honoring
Karen Silkwood

L-R from top: Ron Silver with Tony Mazzocchi, Carl Hancock Rux, Judith Sloan, Alix Olson, Meryl Streep, Wanda Nash, Michael Moore, Gregory Langdon (MC) with portrait of Karen Silkwood, Mike Nichols, Michael Meadows, Sydney Scestey Dedell and Paul Dedell with John O’Connor, David Burnham, Guy Davis, Toshi Reagon,  and Steve Wodka. Photos © 2000, Michael Kaufman, Impact Visuals

Karen Silkwood: Union Martyr. (Art: Nick Sweeney)

NEW YORK — Meryl Streep, who portrayed trade unionist Karen Silkwood in the 1983 movie Silkwood, joined co-star Ron Silver, director Mike Nichols, and the real-life players in the Silkwood drama on the stage of New York City’s Symphony Space on December 17 in a benefit for the Labor Party’s Just Health Care Campaign. Silkwood’s son, Michael Meadows, who was five when Silkwood was killed, also made an emotional appearance.

The event, which also included performances by Michael Moore and Toshi Reagan, marked the 25th anniversary of Karen Silkwood’s death. Silkwood, who worked at the Kerr-McGee nuclear facility in Oklahoma, died in 1974 when her car was driven off the road. She was on her way to deliver proof to a reporter that quality-control records of nuclear fuel rods at the plant were being doctored.

COURAGE

Silkwood’s story helped fuel the movement for worker health and safety and put the nuclear industry on the defensive. LP organizer Tony Mazzocchi, as an official in Silkwood’s union (then OCAW, now PACE), encouraged her to collect information about violations at the nuclear facility.

"I’m not sure Karen Silkwood saw herself as a hero," Meryl Streep told the audience. "She was a person who had courage. And she was an activist in the truest sense of the word. I think the best way to honor Karen Silkwood is to support the people who are fighting now to do what is right. We don’t need more heroes. We need more people like Karen Silkwood."

The Silkwood remembrance was sponsored by PACE; SEIU; UMWA; CNA; UE; and Jane Perkins.