Saturday, March 26, 2011

100th anniversary of the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire

A L O H A!

"He that oppresses the poor to increase his riches,
and he that gives only to the rich,
shall surely come to want."

(Proverbs 22:16) 

"I have always felt that it was important
that everyone who was a worker
join a labor organization.
IBEW Strike, 1941
.

I believe you should tell the story of injustices,
of inequalities, of bad conditions,
so that the people as a whole in this country
really face the problems 
that people who are pushed to the point of striking
know all about,
but others know practically nothing about.
CIO Convention, 1943


.

The unionization of domestic workers
will be salutary 
for both the employer and the employee. "


"My Day," 1946

Eleanor Roosevelt (all)

<°)}}><
  Friday marked the 100th anniversary
of the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire.

  146 people died that day,
most of them young immigrant women & children
(many of whom jumped to their deaths
to escape the flames).

The  March 25, 1911  fire started on the eighth floor of the Greenwich Village building  quickly engulfing the floors above.

Firefighters' ladders reached only to the sixth floor.

It was also common practice
for "bosses" to lock factory doors,
back in those good old days
before those nasty unions
forced us to work only 8-hour days
and to forswear child labor.


Let all that sink in for a moment.

The tragedy prompted many improvements
in fire safety across the country,
such as laws mandating fire drills. 
SOCIALISM!




Days after the Triangle fire,
100,000 mourners marched in a funeral procession
through the streets of New York,
while another 250,000 lined the route.

Their grief was the foundation
for the right of garment workers to unionize.

The tragedy is credited with conferring a certain
"self evident" moral authority
to the U.S. labor movement.

 


"I cannot let my children or my grandchildren go back to that time; You know we are moving back. Not just unions, middle class in general is moving back in that direction. America has got to get out and protest."
One man told the AP at Friday's observance.


23 comments:

Feisty Crone said...

Thanks for posting this, Cloudia.

Corinna said...

"We are moving back to that time." ... I hope that we never are so blind and passive that we ever get back to that point.

Fireblossom said...

This was the subject of the PBS program "American Experience" recently.

The right to collective bargaining in this country was bought largely with blood...both through horrifying accidents like this one, or by organizers and workers who were commonly shot down by Pinkertons or other hired thugs. All of this happened not so very long ago, really, and to let go of the rights so dearly bought is to disrespect the people who fought and died to establish them.

Donna said...

Cloudia....I think you would be a very fascinating person to know! You show gorgeous pictures of Hawaii and then post scripture which is a wonderful seed, and also a bit of important political views to offer a chance to reflect on activism and what is really important in life. You go girl!!!

The Weaver of Grass said...

All so terribly sad.

Sebab said...

You are very thoughtful. Love the pictures.
Cruise Picture

Anonymous said...

yes, more power to the unions!

Kay said...

My sister in law works for Walmart. They don't allow unions. This makes it very easy to do anything they want to their workers. It's not right.

Nancy said...

Thank you for posting this. We need to keep this in mind as we watch the unfolding in Wisconsin. There is a very organized effort underway to take us back to how it was when this fire broke out. A very concerted, well-funded effort to take away workers rights.

Windsmoke. said...

No workers should die on the job because of greedy bosses and their penny pinching ways :-).

Pietro Brosio said...

Yes, so terribly sad. Thanks for sharing this, Cloudia.

Trotter said...

Aloha Cloudia! There are things that shouldn't be forgotten...

Blogtrotter Two is leaving the Côte d’Azur 2010; but it has a beautiful spot for you... Enjoy and have a wonderful Sunday and week ahead!!

David Cranmer said...

Grim history for sure.

Hilary said...

Such a distressing video. Hopefully history will not repeat itself..

Myrna R. said...

My mother-in-law worked in the garment district of New York for many years. She did have a Union, thank God.

Charles Gramlich said...

Horrific.

Akelamalu said...

What a terrible tragedy :(

Cloudia said...

Thank YOU!

Junosmom said...

Always learning something new from you.

Cloudia said...

Right back at, YOU, farm lady/educator/writer!

bichonpawz said...

I agree! Always learning new things from you Cloudia!!

This is so sad...

Dinesh chandra said...

hi goodpost

Dr. Russell Norman Murray said...

'"He that oppresses the poor to increase his riches,
and he that gives only to the rich,
shall surely come to want."

(Proverbs 22:16)'

Yes.

The photo above the quote. I have not seen trees like that before, that I can remember.