Today, New Yorkers commemorated the 106th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire which killed 146 workers, mainly Jewish and Italian immigrant women. The sweatshop, owned by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris occupied the top three floors of the Asch Building on the corner of Greene Street and Washington Square. The women, unable to escape the deadly flames because of locked exit doors and faulty fire escapes either jumped to their death or perished in the fire.
The fire, which is one of the deadliest industrial disasters in New York City sparked a movement for stronger workplace safety regulations. Frances Perkins, who was an eyewitness to the catastrophic event and who would later become Labor Secretary under FDR played, together with other leaders an important part in pushing new workplace safety laws in NY State.
This year’s commemoration also called attention to the unsafe working conditions many construction workers face in New York City. In the past two years, 31 construction workers died on the job, 29 of them non-union members. Union representatives as well of local politicians urged the New York City Council to pass 1447, also known as the Construction Apprenticeship Bill. Supporters of the bill point out that an apprenticeship would provide construction workers with greater knowledge, thus creating a safer work environment resulting in fewer injuries and death.
The ceremony concluded with the reading of the fire victims’ names as well as the names of the construction workers who died on the job, while white and red carnations were placed at the site where so many lost their lives because of the greed of others.
http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/the-names/
