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It is possible to say
that, in part, were all actors in some script,
in some yarn. Its also possible to discover
general themes in many peoples stories. In this
collection of stories Yossi Berger has put a magnifying
glass to many workplaces in many industries and has
provided a texture of meaning, sometimes harsh, sometimes
humorous, sometimes touching, ever thoughtful.
Jennie George
Yossi berger has seen
it all: workplace stupidity and violence, industrial
accidentsand tragic deaths at work. Yet
A Kind of Violence is about the subtleties of workplace
violence: the small stresses that become psychological
disorders; the chemicals that little by little eat away
workers insides; the shell-be-right
masculinity that niggles away at safety conditions,
hard won by generations of workers and unions.
A workplace health
and safety activist for the Australian Workers
Union, Yossi had documented and photographed a wide
range of workplaces and activities. From the shearing
shed to the Longford Gas Plant; from the chemical works
to the glass furnace; from the clothing factory to the
construction site, Yossi records for posterity the kind
of violence that usually goes unreported in Australian
workplaces.
Yossi Berger . . .
takes the reader into an underworld of chemicals,
furnaces and dangerous machinery where workers are
daily exposed to life threatening situations, where
bosses turn a blind eye to unsafe conditions, where
workers remain mute in fear of losing their jobs and
those who complain are ostracised by other workers
and management . . . Berger exposes the inhuman consequences
of unrealistic demands made in the name of productivity.
Fiona Capp, The Age
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