How did the Triangle Shirtwaist fire affect workers rights?
Amid the national scandal that followed the Triangle shirtwaist fire and resounding calls for change, New York State enacted many of the first significant worker protection laws. The tragedy led to fire-prevention legislation, factory inspection laws, and the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union.
How much did the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory workers make?
Their average pay was $6 per week, and many worked six days a week in order to earn a little more money. Like many of their fellow immigrants in other factories throughout the city, the Triangle Shirtwaist workers labored from 7 in the morning until 8 at night with one half-hour break for lunch.
What problems did the Shirtwaist factory reveal?
Workers in the factory, many of whom were young women recently arrived from Europe, had little time or opportunity to escape. The rapidly spreading fire killed 146 workers. The building had only one fire escape, which collapsed during the rescue effort. Long tables and bulky machines trapped many of the victims.
What was the aftermath of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire?
In its aftermath, the Triangle fire inspired a great campaign of workplace reform. About thirty separate laws were passed, including those regulating the minimum wage and working conditions.
For what reasons did bosses dock workers pay?
The workers were paid two dollars a day, were docked pay for their errors and for the needles and thread they consumed.
What risks and working conditions did workers face in factories?
Poor workers were often housed in cramped, grossly inadequate quarters. Working conditions were difficult and exposed employees to many risks and dangers, including cramped work areas with poor ventilation, trauma from machinery, toxic exposures to heavy metals, dust, and solvents.
What went wrong in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire?
On Saturday, March 25, 1911, a fire broke out on the top floors of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory. Trapped inside because the owners had locked the fire escape exit doors, workers jumped to their deaths. In a half an hour, the fire was over, and 146 of the 500 workers—mostly young women—were dead.
What counts as working conditions?
These conditions include things like lighting, the size of the space in which a worker must perform her job, exposure to potential toxins, allergens, nuclear or biological hazards, and what kind of physical strain (i.e. heavy lifting, a worker can expect to undergo.
What was the main factor that contributed to the loss of life in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory tragedy?
Years before the Triangle fire, garment workers actively sought to improve their working conditions—including locked exits in high-rise buildings—that led to the deaths at Triangle. In fall 1909, as factory owners pressed shirtwaist makers to work longer hours for less money, several hundred workers went on strike.