Norma Rae
What began in the Spring of 1963 for a Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA) evolved into a 17-year movement at J.P. Stevens textile plants throughout North and South Carolina (Ritt, 1979). This union campaign eventually advanced to other sites throughout the South. According Ziegler & Ziegler (1982), unions do not fare well when making movies; however along the same token do not lack captivating personalities to show what unions face. This research paper will address Norma Rae’s motivation to establish a union, management’s reactions to her efforts, intolerable working conditions the employees faced, political and interrelationships of establishing their union at the national and local levels (Clark, 2007).
Historical …show more content…
When establishing a bargaining environment, it is essential that both parties are prepared to bargain in good faith (Fossum, 2012). This was not the case in the movie Norma Rae. According to Toplin (1995), capitalism is defined as “a social system based on the principle of individual right.” This was the catalyst and driving force for the workers in Norma Rae, (Ritt, 1979). For these textile mill workers to gain individual freedoms, it was obvious efforts to work together for a common goal was essential for their employee rights to be …show more content…
Henley Mill worked amidst a capitalistic economy, they also had the ability to go into free labor market and choose whom they wished to work for. These other choices of employment such as local restaurants, bars, gas station attendants, schoolteachers and police officers, which required a certain skill, set and education also had a different economic system, to include self-employment (Ritt, 1979). Looking back, the oppression of Norma Rae who initially had no courage to challenge the intolerable environments converts into a charismatic leader who helps transform the textile labor society into unionization. Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote “ You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do." (Ritt, 1979), were the stated lines that were used to speak up Norma Rae’s spirit and power of a leader. These quotes highlighted the two main points shown in the films; the strength and courage of a woman and the idea of equal rights for all (Ritt,
What began in the Spring of 1963 for a Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA) evolved into a 17-year movement at J.P. Stevens textile plants throughout North and South Carolina (Ritt, 1979). This union campaign eventually advanced to other sites throughout the South. According Ziegler & Ziegler (1982), unions do not fare well when making movies; however along the same token do not lack captivating personalities to show what unions face. This research paper will address Norma Rae’s motivation to establish a union, management’s reactions to her efforts, intolerable working conditions the employees faced, political and interrelationships of establishing their union at the national and local levels (Clark, 2007).
Historical …show more content…
When establishing a bargaining environment, it is essential that both parties are prepared to bargain in good faith (Fossum, 2012). This was not the case in the movie Norma Rae. According to Toplin (1995), capitalism is defined as “a social system based on the principle of individual right.” This was the catalyst and driving force for the workers in Norma Rae, (Ritt, 1979). For these textile mill workers to gain individual freedoms, it was obvious efforts to work together for a common goal was essential for their employee rights to be …show more content…
Henley Mill worked amidst a capitalistic economy, they also had the ability to go into free labor market and choose whom they wished to work for. These other choices of employment such as local restaurants, bars, gas station attendants, schoolteachers and police officers, which required a certain skill, set and education also had a different economic system, to include self-employment (Ritt, 1979). Looking back, the oppression of Norma Rae who initially had no courage to challenge the intolerable environments converts into a charismatic leader who helps transform the textile labor society into unionization. Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote “ You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do." (Ritt, 1979), were the stated lines that were used to speak up Norma Rae’s spirit and power of a leader. These quotes highlighted the two main points shown in the films; the strength and courage of a woman and the idea of equal rights for all (Ritt,