triangle shirtwaist factory fire (no regulations--THIS is what we are returning to???)

[niyad]

(also remember that the owners were amoung the first to collect "dead peasant" insurance)

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 40°43?48?N 73°59?43?W

Time 4:40 PM (Eastern Time)
Date March 25, 1911
Location Asch Building, Manhattan, New York City
Deaths 146
Non-fatal injuries 71

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911 was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city, and one of the deadliest in US history. The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers – 123 women and 23 men[1] – who died from the fire, smoke inhalation, or falling or jumping to their deaths. Most of the victims were recent Jewish and Italian immigrant women aged 16 to 23;[2][3][4] of the victims whose ages are known, the oldest victim was Providenza Panno at 43, and the youngest were 14-year-olds Kate Leone and "Sara" Rosaria Maltese.[5]

The factory was located on the eighth, ninth and tenth floors of the Asch Building, at 23–29 Washington Place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, now known as the Brown Building and part of New York University.

Because the owners had locked the doors to the stairwells and exits – a then-common practice to prevent workers from taking unauthorized breaks and to reduce theft[6] – many of the workers who could not escape from the burning building simply jumped from the high windows. The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards and helped spur the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers.

The building has been designated a National Historic Landmark and a New York City landmark.[7]

. . . .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire

[SoCalNative]

1. Businesses still collect "Dead Peasant" insurance

even when workers do not die on the job. All of those life insurance policies your corporate overlords provide to you? Guess what, they ALSO carry one for the same amount or more and collect upon your demise.

[Orsino]

2. The Gilded Age never really ended...

...though we beat it back for a while. We have to sleep sometimes, but the wealthy will always be back for another pound of flesh.

[niyad]

3. so very true

[HockeyMom]

4. My Grandma watched this as a young Teen

only a few years younger than those workers. She told me she saw them jump to their deaths. Horrific to have witnessed that as the daughter of Italian Immigrants. She said to me, "There but for the Grace of God, go I". The women of her family were Seamstresses.

As we say, Never Forget. Pass it on to the next generation to not repeat it in the future.

[niyad]

5. oh my goodness. I am so sorry your grandmother was a witness to that horror. NEVER FORGET