As part of our unit on entrepreneurs, business, labor and capital, the UKW watched a film about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 that prompted many changes to our concepts of labor and worker's rights, but also showed how clothing and textiles had begun to be mass produced and the effects this type of production had on people.
As I watched this film and they talked about the fire, the only thing I could do was open my mouth. Why?Because all of these ladies died young with teenagers and all. The fire started because someone dropped a cigarette in the building. They never found out who dropped the cigarette. The laws got changed after the fire because part of the cause was that the bosses had all the exit doors locked.
Some of the people had to jump out of the window and died, while some others got out. In less than 5 minutes after the alarms, hundreds of people were outside of the building watching the fire. One girl watched her sister burn in the fire after she tried to pull her out with her, but it was too late. Some workers were burned so badly they didn't know who they were and they had to find out by their mouths and teeth.
I learned that as a worker today, I have protections. Mrs. Karen, being my boss, knows to have doors unlocked at all times and a way to get out if something goes wrong. I feel like some of the men could have helped them out and were really selfish for that. Some people were outside of the building yelling to help their kids or their babies. Many of them were not even over 21 yet and died for no reason.
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