Once, long ago, it was hard to find the Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life." In fact in the 60's (and 50s) it was hardly ever on tv. That embargo was because it was felt by the powers that be to be anti business.
You'll find another seeming embargo on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.
The fire happened 100 years ago today, March 25, 1911. Today when workers and unions are fighting to keep collective bargaining, and the right to strike, when we have seen loos of life from non union mines (Upper Big Branch) and none complance with safety regulations (BP oil refinery and drilling platform explosion and spill), hostility to labor in the Maine Dept of Labor (removing murals, etc,) , proposals to end child labor laws, etc. far too many people have no idea and have never heard of the Triangle fire.
Go ahead ask them, especially teenagers and young adults. Many don't know. And for them not to know, especially since the majority of the dead were in their age group, it's almost criminal .
The event was remarkable if only for the sheer horror: 146 people dead -- mostly young women -- many burned to death on a factory floor, trapped because of a locked exit door. Dozens jumped to their deaths nine stories below rather than burn alive. But it was the societal changes wrought by the Triangle Shirtwaist fire that made it a watershed moment in the city’s history.
"People began to accept that workers had a right to organize unions, to protect themselves against these kinds of abuses. The sentiment went on the side of the workers’ rights on the job. That was the seminal change in New York City. It was a seminal change in America," said Workers United President Bruce Raynor.
- NY1
I first learned about it in 1979, when I was 17. It was a made for tv movie, "The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal"
It struck me and haunted me still to this day . . .
. . . the thought and image of a man almost gallantly helping women through the window sill so they could jump to their deaths instead of being burned to death.
. . . being able to place myself in amongst those teenagers and women on the 9th floor trying to get out, fighting their way through crowded unpassable aisles, small elevators, a fire escape that buckled under the weight of those trying to escape pulled from the wall and fell, the terror knowing the stairs you came up now blocked by flames and finding the only other exit locked.
. . . seeing the firemen's ladders reach up only to the 6th floor and they were on the 9th.
You can find it for $349.99 (that's not a typo) it's extremely rare. It should be on a movie channel specializing in old movies, but you probably won't find it there. Maybe it is because that movie touched/haunted/moved people that makes it near impossible to find and view (not even on youtube). Have you seen much of Norma Rae (except for youtube) these past few years?
Today we have the right openly trying to kill unions. They have had victories in the south, where many states are now "right to work [for less]." Even as workers in food processing plants (especially poultry) a few years ago had to wear adult diapers because they were refused the simple decency of bathroom breaks (yes unions ensure bathroom breaks)
You can hear charge that unions are bad for America and Americans from the very same people who benefit from the 5 day 40 hour work week unions brought them. Before they struck, Triangle Shirtwaist Factory workers "enjoyed" the industry standard of a 6 day 72 hour work week (that's a 12 hour day).
You can also hear people toss off the idea that because we have laws and regulations now we don't need unions because it's "much better now."
They forget or ignore that those regulations and laws depend on strong government enforcement. When you have a government that is hostile to workers, as the Bush administration was, even OSHA is neutered.
A friend of mine, an IT guy, lost his job when Fleet Bank merged with Bank of America. To make ends meet while looking for work in his field he took a job at a warehouse. The conditions were unsafe, the warehouse underlit and the manager/boss was prone to saying "Limbaughisms."
"You all should be grateful you have a job, instead of complaining all the time."
(yes the manager was southern, the company is headquartered in the south)
While retrieving inventory on the third tier "shelf" the poor lighting led to my friend falling off. He survived but now has pins permanently embedded in his hip. The Bush administration OSHA was of no help.
The warehouse was not only non union, it was hostile to them.
So leave the job if it is so unsafe! (another "Limbaughism')
And work where? Especially in a recession. Add to that the extreme capitalist idea that you keep unemployment high to keep workers in their place, willing to accept all sorts of garbage because the need a job to live and support their families. (Greenspan and Bernake anyone?)
People don't like change, they don't want to move to find work. . . they don't want to pick up roots, upset their family, move away from family (who will care for aging parents?) and move from their community. So many will accept whatever is out there to keep that upheaval from their lives and their families.
One conservative actually told them to do this, to stay in these jobs and not to bring this upheaval to their families. At odds with Limbaugh, Laura Schlessinger (Dr. Laura) said this in her books and on her former radio show.
Lastly the right will say that market forces and punitive damages will regulate the worst companies so regulations aren't really necessary.
I guess not knowing that lead in crayons and in paint used on children's toys is a good thing. Because with out regulations, government inspections, etc we are not likely to find out about it. (Remember how long it took the Bush administration to act on this)
In other prong in the attack the right also works is to limit damages one may seek to receive in that "market place correction" if not eliminate to possibility altogether. And this is one where my family, specifically my Dad has initiate knowledge of.
Many years ago, during the Bush administration, my Dad received his first pace maker. It was at our urging because he, while active, had an irregular heart beat. The night the pacemaker was put in it malfunctioned.
My Dad, heart beating just fine, received 8 shocks from the defibrillator part of the pacemaker. Each shock stronger than the last. The hospital did not have a magnet on that floor (a cardio floor) to turn off the pacemaker. By the 8th and final shock (before they got it turned off) my Dad was dying, his body was shutting down, fluid entered his lungs, etc.
They worked all night to keep him alive, and he did. Now, however, his is no where as active as he used to be, he must take naps often, his blood pressure swings widely between too low for life and high enough for stroking out for no reason whatsoever. He has suffered brain damage. He can no longer hunt. Hunting was how he, a teacher, put food on the table for his family and augmented my parents retirement.
As I ranted about this to my friend, a Denver area doctor who occasionally checks in on my parents he stopped me and said.
"There wasn't a magnet on the floor because they aren't required by law to have it on the floor. Do you think the fire suppression equipment is there out of the goodness of their hearts? These are for profit businesses now."
But for a few bucks, a bean counter trying to maximize profits for a business (because that's the business of business to maximize profits) my Dad was tortured almost to death.
He can't even sue the pacemaker manufacturer for a defective device.
Medicare could be stuck paying more than $1 billion for monitoring and replacement of faulty pacemakers, according to a statistical analysis commissioned by a group of plaintiffs lawyers. The report says the cost to taxpayers results from the Supreme Court’s 2008 ruling in Reigel v. Medtronic, which greatly limited the legal exposure of manufacturers when FDA-approved medical devices were later found to be defective. The expense could fall on the Medicare program if manufacturers are sheltered from lawsuits, the study says.
- Fairwarning
Thanks conservative Supreme Court, so much for market remedies.
On March 25, 1911 fire broke out on the 8th floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. At the time government was not in the business of regulating business. . .
Do you think the fire suppression equipment is there out of the goodness of their hearts?
And unlike other garment workers in New York at the time the workers at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, the first factory to strike and spur others on demanding safe conditions, shorter work days and a union, went back to work without a union. . .
and with no way to force the company to make conditions safer.
It is the 100th anniversary of that fire, and too few people know about it.
Back in the 60s they did "teach ins" now we have the cyber world and we can, today, do a "cyber teach in" by posting throughout today on all social networking sites stories, videos and links about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.
Schools may not teach this, but we can.
We can and we must educate. We can and must push back on the unthinking right wing memes dedicated to producing negative feelings about unions.
We have got to put links every where .. all day today. If the teabaggers/Republicans can permanently roll unions and labor rights and protections back these men and women will have died in vain.
And personally, I will do all I can to make sure that doesn't happen. Even if it is as "small" as teaching someone else about what happened at Triangle and why.
Some good links to share, please add more in the comments.
How regulation came to be: The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
American Experience: Triangle Fire
Triangle Shirtwaist: Remembering the Fire
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: Workers' Protections Rise From The Ashes
Triangle: Remembering the Fire Trailer (HBO)
Triangle: Remembering the Fire (HBO Documentary site) - thanks to Senor Unoball
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America
The Lessons of Triangle Shirtwaist Fire May Be Lost 100 Years Later
Teaching About the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Teaching the Triangle Fire through Children's Literature - thanks to LibrariAnne (Her dissertation, hopefully she'll write a diary)
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, and the relevance for today
March 25th, 1911: A Turning Point in the American Labor Movement -- thank you mole333
TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY FIRE - many articles written by NYT today and 6 days prior - thank you HylasBrook
Triangle: Remembering the Fire
100 Years Later, the Roll of the Dead in a Factory Fire Is Complete
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, for The Call
March 27, 1911