Sweat

Stan’s reflection about the current generation of leadership—and its extreme distancing from the human concerns of workers—becomes a thematic touchstone for Sweat: “And the problem is they don’t wanna get their feet dirty, their diplomas soiled with sweat…or understand the real cost, the human cost of making their shitty product” (26). The play alludes to the ways in which not only factory management, but politicians in Washington, remain willfully removed from working class Americans’ concerns. The removal of Olstead’s management is so extreme that Cynthia observes—upon receiving her promotion—“Twenty-four years, and I can’t remember talking to anyone in the office, except to do paperwork. I mean some of these folks have been working here as long as us, but they’re as unfamiliar as a stranger sitting next to you on the bus” (54). Management’s physical, intellectual, and emotional removal from workers on the factory floor allows them to ultimately outsource their jobs to Mexico (because they have so little connection to the labor that goes into these jobs, or to the human beings working them).

Another instance of management’s removal comes up in the Spanish-language job offer Oscar shows Tracey. The strike has not started yet, but the ad suggests to the reader that management is already thinking about the current workers as disposable.