[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4451]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FIRE: HIGHLIGHTING THE NEED FOR WORKERS' RIGHTS

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                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 17, 2011

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, Friday, March 25th, marks the 100th 
anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire.
  The tragedy of the Triangle fire is not just the deaths of 146 
workers--mostly young women in their teens and early twenties--but the 
fact that those deaths were avoidable. If the owners of the factory 
hadn't locked the doors to the stairwells and exits, if they had 
installed a stable fire escape or put in sprinklers, many of those 
lives would not have been painfully and tragically lost. If the owners 
of the factory hadn't fought long and hard against their employees' 
right to join a union of their choice, those workers might not have 
been locked in and prevented from fleeing the fire, as the owners were 
able to do themselves.
  The depictions of the tragedy by eyewitnesses are difficult to read. 
The fire broke out on the Saturday afternoon, at the end of the 
workday. Survivor Yetta Lubitz said that the warning and the fire 
arrived at the same time. Within three minutes, the only unlocked exit 
was blocked and the fire escape soon twisted and collapsed from the 
heat. Within 30 minutes, 146 lives were lost, including sixty-two 
people who died by jumping or falling from the ninth floor.
  The International Ladies Garments Workers, the National Women's Trade 
Union League, and other unions didn't just mourn the victims--they 
organized. The day after the fire, 15,000 shirtwaist workers 
demonstrated in support for a 52-hour week and a 20 percent pay raise. 
On Sunday, thousands gathered at the Metropolitan Opera House and 
passed a resolution calling for a Bureau of Fire Prevention and a 
permanent citizens' committee to push for labor reforms. Soon after, 
Governor Al Smith acted to create the Factory Investigating Commission, 
chaired by Robert Wagner, who would become a U.S. Senator and the 
sponsor of the National Labor Relations Act. One of its key 
investigator staffers was Frances Perkins, who became Secretary of 
Labor,
  The impetus for reform came from the workers themselves. Their 
activism resulted in the passage of major worker protections not just 
new fire safety laws but laws against 7-day work weeks and child labor. 
The Triangle tragedy resulted in more workers having the right to union 
representation, collective bargaining rights, and a voice at work.
  In 1961, on the 50th anniversary of the Triangle fire, ILGWU 
President David Dubinsky attended the memorial service and said, ``We 
want a fitting memorial to the martyrs we honor today. No better one 
can be found than to increase the respect for and the safety of 
workers.''
  100 years later, those words continue to ring true. Today, we 
confront a coordinated effort to roll back the hard fought gains that 
were won not just because of the horrific nature of the tragedy that 
occurred but because of the organizing power of unions, workers and 
their supporters. Just as the Triangle Fire spurred people into action, 
the anti-working family agenda of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has 
mobilized millions. The message is clear: we will not go back to the 
days when workers had no voice, no dignity and no safety. We will not 
go back.

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