Discuss the below:
1. Jamie LipscombCOLLAPSE
It was a beautiful spring day in the city. It was March 25, 1911. While many were enjoying a nice day, there was a large group of sweat shop workers rounding up their work day. As they were preparing to wrap up and head home, the unexpected happened. Before they could realize, flames surrounded the top three floors of their work building, concentrating on the 9th floor. With empty buckets placed specifically in case of fire, and locked doors, the nearly 500 workers were left stranded searching for a way out. Some attempted the fire escape that, burdened with weight, parted ways with the building and took many workers with it, adding to the victim's tally. Others, went for the only working elevator at shift's end. Most, rushed to the exit door to find it locked. Upon realizing that there was no clear exit, many workers made the decision to jump out of the windows, plunging through the firemen nets that were not sufficient enough to be of help. In the end, 146 young workers, perished that day in March 1911. Looking back and hearing of survivors' stories, it is quite obvious that there were many safety issues involved in that building of tragedy. The locked doors; locked in order to force the workers out of one particular exit in order to search their handbags and belongings for possible stolen materials, was a major reason the fire took so many lives. No one will ever know if the water buckets would have been filled, that one small safety measure, could have saved even just one life. The fact that, according to survivors and victims' families, the owners of the company took no responsibility and ultimately did not pay a price, sickens many. From this tragedy, the pioneers for change had one more incentive to move forward with their protests and fight for the progression of labor laws and safety laws to be put in place and enforced.
2. BREAKING NEWS: Fire At The Triangle Waist FactoryCOLLAPSE
It's nearing closing time at the Triangle Waist Company, located in the Greenwich Village area of New York. All of a sudden a fire breaks out spreading rapidly causing a panic throughout the three floors that Triangle Waist Company occupies. People are desperately leaping from ninth-floor windows to attempt to escape the fire and many, tragically, are unsuccessful. On lookers witness bodies smashing into pavement and the fire escape for the building collapsing under the weight of people fleeing from the building. Overall, 146 lives are lost out of the total 500 employees.
Currently, these deaths have sparked an investigation and debate into the working conditions of these employees and if this tragedy could have been prevented. Some survivors report that there were piles of trash taller than the employees as well as wicker baskets with flammable scraps of cloth in them. Another survivor reported that upon attempting to escape that one of the exits from the building was locked. These issues alone have left citizens questioning if working environments should be legally allowed to keep hazardous materials unregulated as they were at the Triangle Waist Company. More updates to come as the case progresses.
A tragedy such as this was an eye opening time for citizens of the United States that if we did not push legislation to improve working environments, that there would be the possibility of more tragedies such as The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. The victims of the fire were unintentional martyrs for a cause that is continuing to save lives in many work places today and encourages workers to stand up for their safety and self-worth.