Deanna Gagnon

10/2/00

Economics in Film

 

 

 

Norma Rae

 

Martin Ritt’s Norma Rae portrays the plight of the Southern factory worker during the 1970’s.  As the film progresses and Norma Rae fights for her rights, it is difficult to believe that economic system under which she works is that of capitalism.  Yet, the very idea that she is able to advocate for her self and for others, as workers in a factory with the support of a union organizer, demonstrates the role of the worker in a capitalist society.  Norma Rae was able to form a union because the system maintained that she had the authority to do so. 

            The formation of the factory was based in capitalism.  Financial capital is used to gain access to resources.  The textile factory that employed Norma Rae may not have been a purely capitalist environment, but the society in which it was constructed was fundamentally capitalist.  That society permitted establishment of a union in the factory to ensure workers rights.  The Textile Workers Union of America sent a representative to the factory to ensure that the company was obeying the laws of the greater capitalist society.  Those laws were established with the passage of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (Wagner Act) which protects workers rights to unionize.  The representative, Rueben Wychofsky, understood the provision of this law and its subsequent amendments and used his rights and the rights of the workers to create a union.  This process occurred with the help of Norma Rae, an employee who rallied the other workers to exercise their rights.  Society’s sanctions in the form of labor laws forced the factory to obey the conventions of capitalist society in the form of better working conditions and a fair wage. 

A capitalist society is rooted in its labor market.  Such a market existed in the town that served as the setting for Norma Rae.  While the textile factory may have been the largest employer in the town, there were other opportunities for employment.  Norma Rae’s husband found another job before they were married, which demonstrates other existing employment options for the workers.  He was able to support himself and his daughter through a different employer.  This indicates that there was some choice of employment, which implies the presence of capitalism.  However small or restrictive the employment opportunities might be, if there is a free labor market, then capitalism is present. 

The movie contains further evidence that this textile factory operated in a capitalistic environment.  Although the workers were paid by the rack, their wage of $1.33 was awarded in money, not company script.  There was also no connection to the factory after the completion of one’s shift.  The factory employees were hired for a certain amount of time then were released.  The industry didn’t directly control any other aspect of their lives.  The chain link fence surrounding the factory symbolizes this separation between employer and employee.  Rueben Wychofsky handed out flyers advertising the union as the workers entered the gate, and the managers stood inside of the gate as the employees entered every day.  This physical separation accentuated the conflict between the two forces.

            Capitalism entails an elaborate managerial process, which consisted of numerous supervisors in the textile factory.  This is typical of a capitalist society because while the employers have hired workers for a time period, they will not necessarily produce a certain amount of product independently.  Even if the workers are paid by production, they still need to be supervised in order to control that production.  The supervisory and managerial factions also need to organize the workers to maximize production.  This is done by providing incentives.  The motivation that is seen in the film was Norma Rae’s promotion to spot checker.  In promoting her, her boss raised her hourly rate by $1.50, thereby providing a financial incentive.  However, her new position created problems between Norma Rae and her fellow workers, and she subsequently demoted herself.  Although her promotion did not appear to be completely different from normal protocol, it did seem unusual, especially given her role as an agitator.  The option of promotion or incentive is usually a stipulation of a capitalist society.  However, in this instance, it appears that it was used to remove Norma Rae from her peers and to place her in a supervisory position, thereby attempting to buy her silence through rewards of an increased wage and responsibility.

            The textile factory portrayed in Norma Rae, was not a pristine example of capitalism, since the factory was steeped with bad practice.  Throughout the film, the supervisors and managers manipulated regulations in order to maintain an infer-structure that maximized profits.  This film is an example of the system of checks and balances that have come to exist in capitalist society.  These checks and balances permit manufacturing facilities to earn a fair profit and remain in business while, at the same time, provide workers with fair wages and decent working conditions.  Because competition exists, both in terms of the labor market and the market for goods, the greater society is able to demand that industry conform to certain collective standards.