from Robert Reich
103 years ago today, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City caught fire, causing the deaths of 146 garment workers -- mostly young Jewish and Italian immigrant women, who jumped from the 9th and 10th floors because the fire department's ladders weren’t long enough to reach them and the factory owners had locked doors to stairwells and exits to keep out union organizers and prevent workers from taking breaks and stealing fabric.
It was an era of great wealth and urban squalor, underpaid and overworked employees, overcrowded and unsafe working conditions, and legislators whose votes were bought by industrial magnates. Even after the tragedy, the president of New York’s Real Estate Board warned against improved safety standards. "The experience of the past proves conclusively that the best government is the least possible government,” he argued. The Board predicted safety laws would drive "manufacturers out of the City and State of New York."
But safety standards were established nonetheless, and the International Ladies Garment Worker's Union became powerful enough to protect workers against the worst forms of exploitation.
How far have we come in 103 years?
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