
Issue No 58		16 June 2000

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Letters to the Editor

The Cost of Activism

I am working on compiling a book of experiences about the cost to various activists of their activism in terms of their jobs and careers. I really feel this is worth doing to raise awareness of how people suffer for their beliefs.

I was reading in an article which mentioned Elizabeth Fox-Genovese who was harassed out of her job for speaking publicly on behalf of Feminists for Life.

I would be interested to hear from anyone from just about any campaign, where they have been unfairly dismissed, demoted or harassed in work, because of their colleagues or bosses' view of them for being an activist.

Email me please on [email protected] if you have any union members who have had such an experience and might be willing to share their story in this book. If anything comes of it, and there is any profit, which in any case is doubtful, I am willing to share it equally between the people whose stories are used. If I get lots of stories, I can't promise to use them all, but I am short of stories right now. I am in the UK, but I am interested in hearing from people worldwide.

I am no expert writer, so I intend to let people's own stories speak for themselves, just as I would like to let my own story speak for itself.

In my case I suffered workplace discrimination and demotion about 15 years ago, due to my animal rights views (I can't prove it, that is the problem) and I am also interested in hearing from not only animal rights and environmental campaigners, but also pro-life OR pro-choice, peace or other life/political/social issue activists, from anywhere in the world. It doesn't matter if you are left- or right-wing politically.

I acknowledge that injustices of this type happen to many people, and although I have certain views and may not agree with the views of all the people whose stories I include, it is my view that if you do your job properly, you should not be in trouble at work, and in any case your politics should not be grounds for harassment.

Please could you pass this message on to the right person in your organisation, if it is outside of your area of expertise, thank you.

Lesley Dove

   If you have a story, contact Lesley

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  Issue 58 contents

Interview: After the Gold Rush
NSW building union leader Andrew Ferguson on life after the Olympics and why Che Guevara is his political hero.

Unions: MUA Women's Policy Back on Course
A hard hitting report by the Maritime Union's women's delegate Sue Gajdos prompts the union to, once again, promote its female members.

Politics: Raising the Rafters
Opposition leader Kim Beazley delivered a stirring address to last weekend's NSW ALP State Conference. Here's every word of it.

History: Time and Tide
Greg Patmore surveys the themes of Working Lives in Regional Australia in this introduction to the latest issue of 'Labour History'

International: Fair in the Land of the Free
More than 20,000 immigrant workers, union members and community and religious leaders packed a Los Angeles Sports Arena on June 10 in support of immigrant workers' rights.

Environment: Life's a Beach
Workers are invited to join an environmental campaign to protect the coastal communities and coastline from exploitation by multinationals.

Satire: More Pacific Coups Forecast
The popular holiday resort of Great Keppel Island is bracing itself for a bloody coup, following the rash of rebel uprisings in other parts of the Pacific.

Review: At the Barricades
Denis Evans' photo essay on the Patrick dispute captures the camaraderie on the Melbourne picket lines - solidarity that, like solder, welded workers and their communities together into a human barricade.

Crackdown on Fiji Workers Intensifies
Building Industry Braces for Post-Games Slump
Call Centre Battle Hots Up
More Sackings Spark Entitlements Showdown
Carr Establishes Labor Hire Inquiry
High Court Puts Workers At Reith's Mercy
Miners Hit the Streets Over Death Threats
Unions Urged to Reignite Republic Debate
Tips Rip-Off Sparks Hotel Picket
Community Workers to Lay Siege to Parliament
Water Workers Accept 14% Pay Rise
Counselling for Workplace Accidents
Korean Food Festival is Union Business
Che Helps Doctors Save Lives
Maude Barlow Public Lecture - Sydney June 27