Essay Example about Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

On March 25, 1911, a fire broke loose in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory making it the day of the deadliest fire in New York City's history. Locked doors, unmaintained fire escapes, and all around hysteria were factors that contributed to this horrendous event, increasing the death toll. One hundred and forty-six lives were lost that day, all but seventeen were men and almost half were teenagers. This fire sparked several reforms. Working conditions had to improve, one could not simply return to such conditions. Wages had to be raised and hours had to be reduced. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire lead to stricter safety regulations in factories. In between the 1870s and the 1900s almost 12 million immigrants flooded into America from around the world, at this time New York City was the point of entrance for about 70% of the immigrants. Many had no choice but to live in tenement apartment buildings on the lower east side of New York. Most of these areas quickly became overcrowded and often lacked basic amenities such as indoor plumbing and electricity (Marsico, 16). In the beginning of the 20th century, United States workers had very few rights, many took part in dangerous tasks, worked terrible hours with outrageous pay in horrible conditions. Two years before the fire, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU) lead a strike that helped get better wages and working conditions to over 15,000 workers in New York City. The owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory still refused to increase wages, recognize unions, update any of their safety measures, cut hours and continue to run their factory like a sweatshop, producing the popular women's shirtwaist. The strike was called after 150 so called union sympathizers were fired.*(dept of labor doc)  In 1910, a historic agreement was reached after around 400 workers from all over the city followed Clara Lemlich’s call for a general strike, gradually more and more workers joined to what became known as the Uprising of 20000.  The grievance system was later established in the garment industry to help ensure that all bargaining agreements had to contain a negotiated grievance procedure. Sadly, many of the factory owners were corrupt and disregarded many of the workers basic rights. (sweatshops and strikes). The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was established by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, who had immigrated to the United States no more than twenty years before, on the ninth floor of the Asch Building, located on 23-29 Washington place in New York City in 1902. By 1908, they also occupied the eighth and tenth floors, soon becoming known as the shirtwaist kings. Blanck and Harris employed roughly 500 laborers at the time, a majority of whom were young female immigrant worker coming from what was then Russia and a small percentage came from places like Germany and Italy. Approximately half of the factory’s workforce worked on the ninth floor. A continuous whir of around 240 sewing machines filled the room where the woman sat for what seemed like endless stretches at eight 75-foot-long tables (Marsico, 22). (more info) March 25, 1911, closing time was approaching, woman eagerly waited for the clock to strike 5:00 with their coats and hats at hand, if only they knew that such a horrendous event was about to occur. On the eighth floor at 4:45, scraps of cloth in one of the trash cans is suddenly engulfed in flames and spreading rapidly. A state of fear and total hysteria had come into place as the woman sought a way out. The eighth floor Green Street exit had already become inaccessible due to smoke and flames and they soon realized that the doors that had been locked as a precautionary measure against theft now posed a threat to their lives. Luckily there was a machinist named Louis Brown that had keys to the door. He first needed to push his way through the frenzy of panicked young woman who had piled up against the door to unlock it (Marsico, 28). Someone on the eighth floor made a call to the tenth floor to notify Blank and Harris of the fire and they quickly escaped onto the roof of the building next door. However, the women on the ninth floor were not as lucky. A call to be placed on the ninth floor and an operator had to connect them, but there were none available at that time. Jump or be burnt alive, was a question that the majority of the workers had to ask themselves. Girls piled onto the fire escape until it finally gave way and they fell to their inevitable deaths, other stood hand in hand as they leaped off the side of the building, those who were unable to escape or were not quick enough were burnt (Marsico, 32). All the corpses and wounded victims on the ground made it hard for the firefighters to maneuver and position their leaders which stretched no further than the seventh floor (Marsico, 37). Within twenty minutes 146 lives were lost, countless were injured and factory life would be changed forever. On April 5th, 1911, over 400,000 people stood rain drenched on the sidewalks for a mass funeral to commemorate the seven unidentified workers, most were still in shock from the event that happened no more than ten days before. (triangle shirtwaist fire 1911) In the ruling of Blanck and Harris, the judge ruled them not guilty of creating an unsafe work environment and that it was not their fault the fire happened, even though many testified saying the doors were locked and the fire escapes were not functional. Their statements were all pushed aside with a claim that the woman were not intelligent and were more susceptible to panic. The people of the city were not happy with the verdict, they chased Blanck and Harris down the street to the nearest subway station as they wailed for their lost loved ones accusing the men of murder. On March, 1912, prosecutors tried to force the case back into court but was dismissed due to the constitutional provision that did not allow the same case to be tried twice (Marsico 53, 54). Twenty-three individual civil suits were brought against Blanck and Harris, three years after the fire, on March 11, 1914, the two settled paying $75 for every life lost that day. (sweatshops and strikes). Although they won the case , things never got back to normal for the once mighty Triangle Shirtwaist factory. The fire was a turning point in welfare reform, factory commissions began to write laws to ensure workers rights and better their working conditions. Bill’s were passed to protect all aspects of fire safety: workers needed to have adequate lighting, proper ventilation , fire sprinklers, enclosed staircases, and washrooms. Women would not be allowed to work more than 54 hours a week and children under 14 were not allowed to work at all. (Triangle Shirtwaist Fire 1911). “The “Triangle” company… with blood this name will be written in the history of the American workers’ movement, and with feeling will this history recall the names of the strikers of this shop- of the crusaders.” -Jewish Daily Forward, February 18, 1910 (Von Drehle pg86). One year before the fire, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory’s fate had already been predicted, it would take a major bloodshed to spark a change in these factory owners. To this day, over one hundred years later, some places have yet to change. Recent studies by the US department of labor have found that 67% of Los Angeles garment factories and 63% of New York garment factories still violate minimum wage and overtime laws, and 98% of Los Angeles factories have workplace safety and health problems significant enough to lead to serious injury or death.(Sweatshops and strikes).  We have come so far in history yet many still refuse to change their ways, caring more about how much money they make rather than the safety of the people who earn the money for them. A lot of adjustments have been made since the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911, but we still have a long way to go. Blood was shed and eyes were opened to what horrible conditions these women were working in, they will never be forgotten for it was their deaths that sparked the change we see today.