Abstract
Norma Rae is a true story set in a Southern mill-town in the summer of 1978. Norma Rae and the mill workers were victimized by the mill owners - low, unfair wages, and poor health conditions from the work in the textile mill. During this time Norma was fearful for her family's health and becomes aware of a labor organizer trying to bring the union to the mill. Norma decides to join forces with the union organizer, Reuben Warshosky. Management saw her as a threat and ordered her out of the mill, but not before she inspired the mill workers. It is greatt leadership that finally brings the mill workers together and they vote in and start a branch of the Textile Workers Union of America. The film is a real testament to the
They have an electric attraction but are well aware of the own limits. They come from different worlds.
Norma's father is kind, protective and a very heavy drinker who works at the mill, he does not take a liking to Reuben or Norma's working to unionize the mill. He is worried about his own security on the job. The mill workers turn their back on Reuben and the union because management has cut their hours and pay in an effort to stop the union in its tracks. These are people who need their jobs to support themselves and their families. Their pain, struggles, leisure time and work are all interwined which provides for drawbacks and possibilities for social change. Sonny Norma's second husband loves her dearly, but doesn't understand her growing assertiveness, her new conciousness, and her growing loyalty to the union and Reuben. Norma's union work and her self growth as a woman are a constant struggle she has with her husband, family, friends, and co-workers. Sonny tells Reuben that she isn't the woman he first married she has changed greatlty. Sonny says "Her head's been turned around." (Norma Rae, 1999).
Most of her relationships are changing, her father begins to distance himself from her. Norma's friends now talk to and treat her differently. Most are hospitable, but some have become her enemy. Management sees her as a growing threat and offer her a promotion, but it comes at a cost to the slower workers. Several of the mill workers in the plant