The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was not only a tragic incident that has scared so many generations, in contrast to its devastating effects, it has also been recognized as a catalyst for significant labor reform for garment workers. Prior to the disaster, this sweatshop like factory was the prime example of why we now have very strict building and fire codes that have to be met by all business. Unfortunately, nearly 150 young women and children had to loose their lives in order for significant change to take place.
At the time of the fire, the Triangle shirtwaist factory was the largest manufacturer of women's shirtwaists (blouses) in the country. Occupying the eighth, ninth and tenth floors of a ten-story building on Washington Place in Greenwich Village, New York, the factory boasted more than 500 employees and produced more than $1 million worth of blouses every year. The Triangle was a good example of what we consider to be a sweatshop today; a big crowded factory with workers at long tables. However, the workers did not think of themselves as sweatshop workers. To them sweatshops were tiny tenement factories of ten or 12 people, with no light, electricity or plumbing and the Triangle was nothing like that. They considered their factory to be modern and urban, with high ceilings, large windows, rest rooms and electric-powered sewing machines. Compared to today, the hours were long and the working conditions were very hazardous, but the employees, mostly European immigrants, still considered themselves very fortunate. Nevertheless, owners of the Triangle Waist Company, Max Blanck and Isaac Harris, viewed their employees as nothing more than disposable parts in a giant profit-making machines.
In the early 20th century workplace safety was unregulated, and unnatural deaths at the workplace were far more common than they are today. Considering the culture of the time, there is no surprise that Blanck, Harris and their employees never...