Crystal Lee Sutton, the woman who inspired the movie Norma Rae (featured on my Labor Day movie list), passed away at the age of 68 after a battle with brain cancer. In 1973, “Ms. Sutton (then Crystal Lee Jordan) was a 33-year-old mother of three earning $2.65 an hour folding towels at the J. P. Stevens plant in Roanoke Rapids, N.C., when she took her stand. Low pay and poor working conditions had impelled her to take a leading role in efforts to unionize the plant. She was met with threats, she said.”

Sutton was fired within a year the factory she worked at, and along with others from the plant, received representation.

Beyond her work unionizing work, Sutton, since the time she was diagnosed with brain cancer, has been battling with health insurance companies. According to her Web site, Sutton went two months without important medications because the insurance companies refused to pay for them.  It’s been a battle since then, one she sadly has lost.

In honor of Sutton be sure to look at the “Act” section of this post to find out how you can make health care reform to happen.

(photo: rachelstyle’s Flickr Photostream)