Objections to leaflet

Press, 13 November 1981, Page 4

Objections to leaflet

The Christchurch Unemployment Collective has taken exception to a leaflet, advertising Operation Identification, which implies that unemployed people are potential burglars. The leaflet depicts a masked man wearing working boots and labelled, “Out of work.” Next to the caricature the leaflet says, “Keep this man out of your home — permanently.” Operation Identification is a system of coding property with an invisible marker pen. It was begun by the Lions Club and has been promoted professionally. The collective, which has an office in Cashel Street it shares with the Christchurch Unemployed and Temporary Workers’ Union, and was started earlier this year, has written to the Lions Club saying it is angry at the way

the leaflet implies that unemployed people are potential burglars. “We regard the way in which you portray unemployed people as burglars as a gross insult to the thousands of people who are suffering the effects of unemployment in New Zealand at the moment,” said a collective spokesman, Ms Priscilla Clark. “If you insist upon having graphic illustrations of potential burglars in your publicity material, we suggest you illustrate a white collar businessman. We further suggest you use some of

your energy focusing on white collar crime, and stop harassing the unemployed,’ said Ms Clark. The secretary of the Christchurch Lions Club, Mr J. G. Cunningham, said that although the Lions had begun the project, it had no connection with the leaflet. The Lions Club was concerned with the end result of the publicity — the way it helped people protect their property. The collective was quite within its rights to protest about the leaflet and he agreed with some of the sentiments expressed by the collective, Mr Cunningham said.