Norma Rae - Keira J

Belief in the government to ensure the success of labor unions should be well-placed, but in reality—or in the reality of the US—it is not well-placed. Especially with our current Senate, the US government is not pro-labor. With such division in US politics it is hard to pass any legislation, much less pro-labor or pro-union laws. We are unable to rely on the government to fight poverty or protect the labor force as the article “Poor People are Gonna Rise Up” describes, saying how “during the past forty years, the share of earnings for the nation’s top 1 percent has doubled, while the wages for 90 percent of workers have barely kept up with inflation”. There is obviously a huge division between the social classes, but the government has not prioritized regulating business to protect labor, which leaves it to the labor force to stand up for their rights. This is shown in the film “Norma Rae”, where the town initially didn’t support the union, the church didn’t support the union, the law enforcement didn’t support the union, and nor did the management of the fabric factory—the workers had to stand up for themselves. In the film, it was very much the union versus everyone, which is my current impression of unions—it is unions vs everything in society, even the government. The idea that workers have to stand up for themselves because the government can’t be relied upon to protect them is reinforced in the “A New Era for the American Worker” article. The article says now is the time for American workers to advocate for more rights—meaning that it’s common knowledge that it’s up to the labor force to form unions for themselves, and that the government can’t be depended on to pass protective labor laws.