Dear Editor:
I recently watched the chilling play Radium Girls at the Fergus Grand Theatre, with spectacular acting and set design all around. A wonderful mix of drama, a twisting plot, and dance. So proud of everyone who contributed.
The true story is about the U.S. Radium Corporation in the 1920s, trying to cover up the harmful effects of radium even as it was poisoning the girls who painted the watches, and soon entered the marketplace with toxic radium products. It’s a forever relevant story as this happens time and time again. A mega-corporation leaps onto an untested new fad and then cuts corners in ways that harm the safety of the staff and the general public.
The answer of course is to pass laws and regulations that ensure accountability and transparency from the most powerful of corporations and their products. After all, the most powerful should be expected to be the most responsible, since their actions strongly affect the rest of us.
But whenever something new comes along, usually the proper protocols, laws and research don’t exist yet.
And the greedy rush to sell a product and dominate the market overshadows basic critical thinking. A factory run by snake oil salesmen is a frightening thing, and even scarier when the workers are kept in the dark.
Thankfully in the story, the female workers started questioning the practices of their company, and didn’t stay silent, seeking out the help of women’s groups and unions. With them speaking up and going to court, the law (and science) finally caught up, but not before death took its toll.
Mega-corporations have the right to sell you products, but they don’t have the right to be reckless with human life and keep us in the dark.
Nathan Gatten,
Fergus