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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOn March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City burned
The Triangle factory, owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, was located in the top three floors of the Asch Building, on the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place, in Manhattan. It was a true sweatshop, employing young immigrant women who worked in a cramped space at lines of sewing machines. Nearly all the workers were teenaged girls who did not speak English, working 12 hours a day, every day. In 1911, there were four elevators with access to the factory floors, but only one was fully operational and the workers had to file down a long, narrow corridor in order to reach it. There were two stairways down to the street, but one was locked from the outside to prevent stealing and the other only opened inward. The fire escape was so narrow that it would have taken hours for all the workers to use it, even in the best of circumstances.
The danger of fire in factories like the Triangle Shirtwaist was well-known, but high levels of corruption in both the garment industry and city government generally ensured that no useful precautions were taken to prevent fires. Blanck and Harris already had a suspicious history of factory fires. The Triangle factory was twice scorched in 1902, while their Diamond Waist Company factory burned twice, in 1907 and in 1910. It seems that Blanck and Harris deliberately torched their workplaces before business hours in order to collect on the large fire-insurance policies they purchased, a not uncommon practice in the early 20th century. While this was not the cause of the 1911 fire, it contributed to the tragedy, as Blanck and Harris refused to install sprinkler systems and take other safety measures in case they needed to burn down their shops again.
Added to this delinquency were Blanck and Harris notorious anti-worker policies. Their employees were paid a mere $15 a week, despite working 12 hours a day, every day. When the International Ladies Garment Workers Union led a strike in 1909 demanding higher pay and shorter and more predictable hours, Blanck and Harris company was one of the few manufacturers who resisted, hiring police as thugs to imprison the striking women, and paying off politicians to look the other way.
http://www.history.com/topics/triangle-shirtwaist-fire
tammywammy
(26,582 posts)PBS' American Experience: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/triangle/player/
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/080214151X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1427309112&sr=1-1&keywords=David+von+Drehle&pi=AC_SY200_QL40&dpPl=1&dpID=51XLy11HzyL&ref=plSrch#mediaMatrix_secondary_view_div_1427309148227
MerryBlooms
(11,871 posts)rec
tammywammy
(26,582 posts)He really discusses what the culture in the city was like then, especially for the immigrants and seamstresses.
If you liked the show and you like to read, then put that book on your list.
MerryBlooms
(11,871 posts)Takket
(22,373 posts)The seeds of pretty much every workplace safety and building code law we have on the books protecting us today were planted on that day. not to mention the movement towards Unions. It was a horrible tragedy and every time I think of it I appreciate just how fortunate we are to have the safe workplaces we do today and how those poor souls had to suffer to spur change.
This is also why it infuriates me so much that the GOP is trying so hard to roll back EVERYTHING that protects the American worker... removing regulations, crushing unions, holding down the minimum wage... etc.