The Divide

 The play “Sweat”, written by Lynn Nottage, is a piece that explores the conflicts between us, the workers, and them, the big corporations. Some of the factory workers are seen in Act 2 meeting at a bar or a pub and discuss a job opportunity as well as job safety.

There is a new opening for an office job in the company where they work and these two women are discussing it. Cynthia is debating applying for the position because they are supposedly looking for someone off the factory floor. Cynthia has twenty-four years of experience and she believes it is a great opportunity. On the other hand, Tracy is opposed to the idea of even applying for the office job even though she has more experience than Cynthia. She even asked Stan, the bartender, if “you have ever seen anyone move off the floor [in 24 years]” and he hadn't so she believed its a waste of time. 

Cynthia then began to talk about NAFTA, formally known as the North American Free Trade Agreement, and how it poses a huge risk to their job safety. It allows for free trade between the North American countries of Canada, U.S.A., and Mexico and poses a large risk to factory workers in the U.S.A. as workers are cheaper in other countries and their as no tariff on imports. This a a major influence to why they want the office job as it will provide job security to them. This shows how them, the corporations, don't care about the workers, us, and will move their factories to wherever it benefits them.