As I finished my previous blog, and after sending the hub a text stating that I'm dong blogging, something came to mind. I took a "Writing for New york " class last semester, where we learned about many events that occurred in New York. When given a assignment to write about something that brought upon new laws and policies, I decide to write about the Shirtwaist Factory fire. This fire remains one of New York's deadliest workplace disasters.
Below I've attached my paper! Learn something!
The fire at the Triangle Waist Company in New York City, which claimed the lives of 146 young immigrant workers, is one of the worst disasters since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. This incident has had great importance to this day because it highlights the cruel working conditions to which industrial workers can experience. To many, its horrors symbolize the extremes of industrialism. The tragedy still dwells in the shared memory of the nation and of the international labor movement.
Into the early 20th century businesses operated free of government regulation and with few industry standards. There were no building codes that existed and regular equipment or fire inspections were not performed. Sweatshops were common, “where people worked for very low wages in crowded and unsafe conditions with poor ventilation or inadequate heat” (Von, 3). There was no such thing as limit for the number of hours a person could be required to work, and child labor laws were non-existent. Immigrants new to the United States, speaking little to no English, and desperately looking for employment, were vulnerable to sweatshop employment. Many of the women were Italian and Russian Jewish immigrants between the ages of 16 and 23 year old. A sweat shop operated in New York City‘s Greenwich village under the name of “The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory” owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris (Von, 6), hired individual that were willing to work for low wages, they were paid low wages and pocketed a portion of the profit. Children usually worked in mills and factories under miserable conditions and many women worked side by side with their children. While looking for a better life in the United States immigrants often found themselves working in bad conditioned jobs.
It was approximately 4:45pm on March 25, 1911, when the bell rang signaling the workday was finished. Suddenly a fire broke out on the eighth floor, spreading quickly to the two higher floors. Doors to fire escaped were locked; the owners had usually locked the exit doors, because they claimed workers stole materials. Workers had no choice but to wait at the window for rescue, but when firefighters arrived to the location they realized their fire ladders were too short and water pressure was insufficient for water from the hoses to reach that height (Von, 23). When many workers realized the hose weren’t reaching the height, many decide to jump to their deaths rather than to burn alive. Workers on the tenth floor were able to get to “the roof of the building and escaped over ladders placed by students across to a nearby New York University building” (Von, 35). Almost 100 employees died inside the structure, while 47 jumped to their deaths from the eighth and ninth floors to escape the flames. An estimated 146 workers died and 70 were seriously injured.
The building's structure was considered to be fire proof, but the interior on the upper three floors was packed with flammable objects including “clothing products hanging from lines above workers' heads, rows of tightly-spaced sewing machines, cutting tables bearing bolts of cloth, and linen and cotton cuttings littering the floors”(Landau,14). Few fire escapes were present, and company management had a policy of locking most exits, supposedly to secure against break-ins, but the real reason was to keep the workings inside. The unlocked exits were only 20 inches wide, intended to limit access to no more than one person at a time and to guard against employee theft. New York City, with its tenements and loft factories, were concern about issues of health and safety in the early 20th century. Groups such as the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) and the Women’s' Trade Union League (WTUL) “fought for better working conditions and protective legislation” (Von, 8). Local 25 of the ILGWU organized a rally against the unsafe working conditions that led to the disaster. The Women's Trade Union League led a campaign to investigate cruel conditions among Triangle workers, in able to collect testimonies, and promote an investigation. After a month of the fire the governor of New York State appointed the Factory Investigating Commission. During the following 5 years, the commission conducted a series of statewide hearings that resulted in the passage of important factory safety legislation. “Frances Perkins, later to become Secretary of Labor under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, watched the Asch Building burn, an event that influenced her decision to become a lifelong advocate for workers”(http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/narrative6.html) . Perkins assisted in the factory investigation from her position as executive secretary of the New York Committee on Safety. The ILGWU, in concert with other labor movement and progressive organizations, continue a long and difficult battle to achieve the right of workers to safe working conditions. The event, as it faded from immediate public outrage, was not forgotten nor was it isolated in the course of the history of American workers.
The company owners were charged of criminal negligence, but were acquitted eight months later in a jury trial and assessed only a small fine. They later received $65,000 in insurance payments for property damage (Landau,22). The fire, regarded as one of the worst industrial tragedies in U.S. history, “aroused public anger over management and government indifference to worker safety” (Von, 40). Women's unionization activity escalated as the ILGWU made an effort to improve sweatshop conditions. The effects on local and national politics were insightful; this began a 20 year effort to introduce industry reforms.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911 bought upon many changes that would regulate things in the United States. Before the fire the government stayed away from business, but they felt it need no legislation. After the fire government could not avoid instituting laws to protect the workers. Once the New York legislature enacted safety laws, other states in the US followed suit (Landau, 24). After this incident workers looked toward to union’s voice with their concerns over safety and pay. The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union won support and led a march of 100,000 to tell the New York legislature to move into action (Landau, 30). The New York State Legislature created the Factory investigating Commission of 1911. The commissioner’s job was to see what could be done to prevent future fire disasters. From 1911 to 1914, many laws were passed which would “protect the health and safety of American worker” (Landau, 38). Some of the changes included, the non blockage of fire exits during working hours, fire extinguishers had to be kept in the building. Building must have fire escapes that could support large amounts of weight,” aisles and stairways could not be blocked, and sprinkler systems for higher floors were required” (Landau, 39) Legislations passed which limited the workweek for woman and children to 54 hours (Von, 42) The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire remains as a turning point in US history. Countless state and federal laws were enacted because of this incident. Unions gained many new workers who wanted someone to fight for their safety; employers in the United States now have a clear set of guidelines that need to follow to ensure the safety of their employees.
No comments:
Post a Comment