Steel Working Info from Assoc. Dir. of American Revolutions @ OSF, Julie Felise Dubiner (+media)
- Ember Sappington
- Feb 27, 2022
- 2 min read
Our lovely director, Aurelia, has done some amazing dramaturgical networking for us team! This is information from Julie Felise Dubiner, who was the Associate Director of American Revolutions at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which commissioned SWEAT.
AC: Aurelia Clunie
JFD: Julie Felise Dubiner
AC: What kind of work do they do at Olstead's?
JFD: "The factory that Lynn visited made the aluminum parts of aluminum chairs and such. So there were machines for melting, making the tubes, and bending the tubes that needed to be operated. And then they were packed to be shipped to to factory that out then together as completed pieces. She didn't really think realistically, but the idea is kind of that [Cynthia, Tracey, and Jessie] are the packers and the men were the metal workers. We didn't do any deep dives on taking anyone to a factory or anything [during the first production, I believe]. I think we watched an aluminum factory thing on YouTube. he important thing as that it was hard, standing up, timed work that was being replaced by machines."
"Almost all of the workers are under the umbrella of the United Steel Workers or AFLCIO. There are specialties under those umbrellas....The larger organization is supposed to take care of the subgroups, but honestly....the larger organization are often quite corrupt and cut deals that don't always help the workers."
"The interesting thing is that in a lockout situation, if the deal goes the workers way, the company is legally required to pay out lost wages from the lock out -- so folks who have walked the line for sometimes more than a year are living in hope that they will get a big payout when the strike gets settled -- that's Brucie's whole thing..."
Here are some wonderful videos to give a good idea of the factory floor vs. office dynamic in the steel working industry and also to give you a sense of steel fabrication aesthetically and practically.
Thank you so much Aurelia for these lovely resources!
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