Sunday, December 6, 2015

Why is the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire significant in the labor movement?

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was a disaster that killed over 150 workers in 1911.  No American worker should have to go to work with the possibility of not coming home alive.  Unfortunately, workplace deaths were all too common in the United States in the early Twentieth Century.  This particular industrial disaster had a dramatic impact on the nation.   The whole incident could have been prevented by following basic safety procedures.  As an example,...

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was a disaster that killed over 150 workers in 1911.  No American worker should have to go to work with the possibility of not coming home alive.  Unfortunately, workplace deaths were all too common in the United States in the early Twentieth Century.  This particular industrial disaster had a dramatic impact on the nation.   The whole incident could have been prevented by following basic safety procedures.  As an example, the management of the factory had locked the doors to prevent theft, so when the fire occurred, the workers could not get out.  This points to a basic lack of concern for the laborers because of the lustful greed of the industrialists.  The incident caused a tremendous backlash in the United States that led to reforms in the area of building codes and workplace safety.  Commissions were immediately created to examine ways to make the workplace safer.  Their work extended to include fire regulations for residential buildings like tenements and apartments.  The horror that was the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was certainly a terrible event, but it did lead to improvements that prevented similar disasters in America's future. 

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