Labor Laws

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Labor Laws
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What could have been done

• Sprinklers
• New York Law In 1911, sprinklers were still not
  required in New York City buildings.
• Triangle Shirtwaist Company Compliance The Asch
  building contained no sprinkler system.

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What could have been done

• Factory Doors Unlocked
• New York State Labor Laws (Article 6, Section
  80)
• "All doors leading in or to any such factory
  shall be constructed as to open outwardly, where
  practicable, and shall not be locked, bolted, or
  fastened during working hours."

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What could have been done

• Fire Escapes
• New York Law New York law left the matter of
  fire escapes to the discretion of building
  inspectors.  (The architect's plans showed a rear
  fire escape leading to a skylight.) 
• Triangle Shirtwaist Company Compliance In the
  final construction, however, the fire escape
  still ended at a second floor skylight.  During
  the fire, the fire escape collapsed under the
  weight of the fleeing workers.

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Sweatshops Before 1911

• Unsafe working conditions

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It was a warm spring Saturday in New York City,
March 25, 1911.  On the top three floors of the
ten-story Asch Building just off of Washington
Square, employees of the Triangle Shirtwaist
Factory began putting away their work as the 445
p.m. quitting time approached.  Most of the
several hundred Triangle Shirtwaist employees
were teenage girls.  Most were recent
immigrants.  Many spoke only a little English. 
Fire!
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Fire Triangle Waist Co. NYC
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146 Employees Died (Many Under 18)
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After Fire
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Why it Happened

• At 445 p.m., a guard routinely locked one of
  the two exit doors on the ninth floor, something
  the company did every day at closing time, to
  discourage theft. It was then that the workers on
  the ninth floor first learned about the fire from
  the smoke and flames.

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What Is To Be Done?
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Unions

• The International Ladies' Garment Workers Union
• Local 25 of the ILGWU organized a rally against
  the unsafe working conditions that led to the
  disaster
• Resulted in the passage of important factory
  safety legislation

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Assignment

• Use the following website or any website of your
  choice
• http//www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/t
  riangle/trianglefire.html
• Go to building and safety codes
• Make a list you can use to check out if your
  worksite is in compliance.
• Call it Think Safety