The film is based on a real-life union organizing campaign at J.P. Stevens Mill in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. Norma Rae is based on Crystal Lee Sutton. Reuben Warshowsky, the union organizer, is based on Eli Zivkovich, a 55-year-old former West Virginia coal miner. In 1974, thanks to the efforts of Sutton and Zivkovich, workers at J.P. Stevens Mill voted to join the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. However, it took 10 years for the union to get a contract. Some real-life events are re-created verbatim in the movie, including Norma Rae holding up the "UNION" sign and the plant workers shutting down their machines, and Norma Rae waking up her children to tell them about her relationships with their fathers.

Sally Field did the film against Burt Reynolds' advice, and afterward ended their relationship.

Crystal Lee Sutton died September 11, 2009, in Burlington, N.C. She was 68.

According to a 1980 Washington Post article, Crystal Lee Sutton received no profits from the movie.

Sally Field and Beau Bridges researched their roles by working in a factory.

Martin Ritt: as a disgruntled factory worker.