Always been like this for inmigrants and the poor? 146 WOMEN die in fire in N.Y.?

Question

Was just reading about the horrific deaths of 146 young immigrant women in a New York city factory in the year 1911, in which the grand jury found the owners of the place innocent, even though it was proven beyond doubt that they always locked the girls inside so no theft of clothing would take place.

How can something like that happen?

Answer 1

That was the Triangle Shirtwaist Company case.This happens because, the human perspective will degrade something different before they will accept it. Sometimes it takes a tragedy brought upon by the stubborn will of us to realize how wrong we were, and for prevention in the future to happen.

Answer 2

Hi,

You are speaking about the Shirt Factory fire and yes the owners were found innocent because most of the women who survived were afraid to testify. Plus it was an all male white jury.

What has happened since then was these women formed a Union, United States Ladies Garment Union.

Also the city of New York set up building code standards after that fire so it could never happen again.

Answer 3

Was that the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire?

Actually, working conditions for American workers have improved incredibly since then. It was -because- of disasters like this that laws were passed to make the workplace safe. OSHA was formed to protect workers. Building codes were updated to make buildings safer and fire codes to make sure employees had exit routes, fire escapes, etc. There were also some serious theater fires which led to strong laws about theater fire safety, asbestos curtains between stage and auditorium, etc.

There have still been some disasters, though. I remember in the 80s a fire in a chicken processing plant where the doors were locked because the owners were afraid of employees stealing chickens.

The problem is that today we're regressing. The Bush admin. wants to make occupational safety 'voluntary', as with environmental controls. They are also depopulating OSHA so it can't be as effective.

But you know how we are in the US, we respond to catastrophes. When there is another one, we'll strengthen the laws and enforcement again.

Answer 4

It's the human condition. When arrogance, avarice and hubris sets in, we all tend to believe we are superior to 'underlings'. The really sad fact is that the women were not the ones who were stealing clothes; the stealing was being done by supervisors, management and owners.
It's no different today. Companies pay their employees minimum wage, or as little as they can, while CEOs earn 600 - 800 times what their average employee makes. It's the CEOs and upper-management types who use the corporate jet for personal junkets, run up lavish expense accounts, and steal from their companies.
Almost anyone who suspects others of being a thief, a liar, a cheat or an adulterer is generally guilty of those same sins himself....usually to a much greater extent. If a boss, supervisor, owner or manager doesn't trust you, it's often because he knows he himself cannot be trusted. -RKO- 10/13/07

Answer 5

I believe you are discussing the details of the Triangle Shirt Factory fire. That is when OSHA or it's predecessor came into being. Prior to that, no one monitored workplace conditions and injuries were not reported as "work related." The framework wasn't there.
Basically what happened was the doors opened inward to the factory floor but with some many people pushing to get out, they couldn't. I know it sounds stupid, but that's basically what happened. They got trapped and burned or jumped from the Fourth Story window to their deaths.

Answer 6

The laws were different then. The particular fire that you mention (at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company) led to both the unionization of clothing workers and the creation of OSHA. Their deaths probably saved many more lives over the subsequent decades.

Answer 7

Hey, it probably happens all the time even today. What about those "sweat shops" that are still in NYC? And the ones in the third world countries?

Answer 8

Today, American companies still do this - but the factory will be in Mumbai, Manila of Bejing.