PBS is broadcasting "Triangle Fire," about the deadliest workplace accident ever in the United States. It occurred 100 years ago on March 25th, 1911, and claimed the lives of more than 100 garment workers at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory here in NYC, many of them teenage girls. Check your local listings for viewing times in your area.
I had already planned to record it. As the Governor of Wisconsin tries to strip workers of their rights it may help to remember that despite their faults, unions helped secure basic rights for workers, such as a safe workplace.
ReplyDeleteNew York Sewer.
Believe it or not, two years later, in Binghamton, NY, we had almost the exact same scenario that played out at the Binghamton Clothing Company. It certainly took a while for fire laws and workplace safety rules to take hold.
ReplyDeleteI saw some movie about it a long time ago, can't remember the name of it, but I definitely know about that fire.
ReplyDeleteThe 'Triangle Fire' - on American Experience was a cruel reality. Is there a list of individuals that were lost? And were all accounted for? Would one of the quoted/interviewed historians know the names of those that are still not identified?
ReplyDeleteRomona Cammarata
The last six bodies were identified recently. My friends great uncles sister died in that fire and she is buried in Queens. Yesterday was the anniversary on the Jewish calender and she lit a yahrzeit (remembrance) candle for her. There is a project for chalk marking the sidewalks at all the addresses of the dead.
ReplyDeleteI agree this is why we have unions. Owners gave up nothing without a struggle for laws and collective bargaining.