Editing Norma Rae (section)

== Plot ==
Norma Rae Wilson is a worker in a cotton mill that has taken too much of a toll on her family's health for her to ignore their poor working conditions. She is also a single mother with two children by different fathers, one dead and the other negligent, and frequently has flings with other men to alleviate her loneliness and boredom. Initially, management tries to divert her frequent protests by promoting her to "spot checker", where she is responsible for ensuring other workers are fulfilling work quotas. She reluctantly takes the job for the pay hike, but when fellow employees, including her father, shun her for effectively being a "fink" to the bosses, she demands to be fired. Instead, she is demoted back to the line.

Two men enter her life, and that changes her perspective. A former co-worker, Sonny Webster, asks her out after causing trouble for her at the mill. Divorced with a daughter, he proposes marriage after a short courtship; recognizing how long it has been since she met a non-selfish man with whom to keep company, she accepts his offer. After a few charged encounters with Reuben Warshowsky, a [[union organizer]] from New York City, Norma Rae listens to him deliver a speech that spurs her to join the effort to unionize her shop. This causes conflict when Sonny observes she's not spending enough time at home and is frequently exhausted when she is present. When her father drops dead at the mill of a heart attack—a death that could have been averted had he been allowed to leave his post early instead of waiting for his allotted break—she is more determined to continue the fight.

Management retaliates against the unionization efforts, first by rearranging shifts so that workers are doing more work at less pay and then by posting fliers with racial invective in the hope of dividing white and black workers and diluting the momentum. Warshowsky demands Norma copy down the racist flier word for word to use it as evidence for government sanctions against her mill. When she attempts to transcribe the flier, management tries to stop her, then fires her on the grounds of creating a disturbance and calls the police to remove her from the mill. While awaiting the sheriff, Norma Rae takes a piece of cardboard, writes the word "UNION" on it, stands on her work table, and slowly turns to show the sign around the room.  The other workers stop their mill machines one by one, and eventually, the room becomes silent. After all the machines have been switched off, Norma Rae is taken to jail but is freed by Reuben.

Upon returning home to her family, Norma decides to talk to her children and tell them the story of her life, their questionable parentage, and her recent arrest so they are prepared for any smears that may come from those hoping to discredit her efforts. After a tense exchange with Reuben, Sonny asks her if they have been intimate; she says no but acknowledges, "he's in my head." Sonny, in turn, tells her there's no other woman in his head, and he will always remain with her.

An election to [[Labor union|unionize]] the factory occurs. Norma and Reuben listen as best as possible from outside the mill as reporters and TV cameras observe the vote count. With a difference of just 100 votes, the union wins. Shortly after, Reuben says goodbye to Norma; despite being smitten with her, they shake hands because he knows she is married and loves her husband, and Reuben heads back to New York.