Volume 13 , Issue 13

100th Anniversary of Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

It was the hundred years ago, March 25, (1911) marks the centennial anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. It was the deadliest workplace accident in New York City's history and a seminal moment for American labor. This is to remind us ALL and memorialize the memories of those who lost their lives on that afternoon, 25 March, 1911.

The 146 garment workers that died that day in March 25, 1911 were mostly young, immigrant women. Were your ancestors amongst the 146 of 500 workers that were listed and leaped to their deaths when they tried to escape the fire when they found the emergency exits locked?

Check out this List of 146 Lives Lost on the afternoon of March 25, 1911, in the heart of Manhatten, 23-29 Washington Place, at the northern corner of Washington Square East. Click the following link to read more about the History of the Victims List.

According to The Triangle Factory Fire website, "The Triangle Waist Company was in many ways a typical sweated factory in the heart of Manhattan, at the northern corner of Washington Square East. Low wages, excessively long hours, and unsanitary and dangerous working conditions were the hallmarks of sweatshops. Many workers toiled under one roof in the Asch building, owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris.

The Cloth Inferno - The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire was the worst factory fire in the history of New York City. Late in the afternoon of Saturday, 25 March 1911, fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, located on the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the Asch Building. In less than five minutes fire snuffed out the lives of 146 workers.

Many of the garment workers before 1911 were unorganized, partly because they were young immigrant women intimidated by the alien surroundings. In 1909, an incident at the Triangle Factory sparked a spontaneous walkout of its 400 employees.

Of the many Triangle factory workers, mainly women, some were as young as 14 years old, recent Italian and European Jewish immigrants who had come to America with their families to seek a better life. BUT . . . instead, they faced lives of grinding poverty and horrifying working conditions. The Triangle Factory was a non-union shop, although some of its workers had joined the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.

The labor immigrants back then (1911) were denied any collective bargaining rights. The Triangle workers were powerless to change the abysmal conditions in their factory. There was inadequate ventilation, lack of safety precautions and fire drills and locked doors.

It took the garment unions marching out of this fire, producing the new unionism. It was the Labor Rights legacy of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. The fire unleashed public outrage, forcing government action. It took three years, more than 36 new state laws being passed inequality of workplace conditions.

DemocracyNow.org reports, "100 years after Triangle Fire, we look at some of the major struggles facing workers today in the United States and around the world. In one of many recent firs, 26 workers making clothes for U.S. companies were killed in Bangladesh last December (2010). Workers across the United States, meanwhile, are facing a resurgent assault on salaries, benefits and their right to organize -- as epitomized in Wisconsin's anti-union bill."   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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