100 years ago on March 25, 1911, America was stricken by the terrible Triange Shirtwaist Factory Fire, which killed 146 innocent American factory workers, mainly Jewish and Italian women in their late teens and early twenties.  The fire burned down the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in Greenwich Village, New York City.  The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory had notoriously lackluster labor conditions, and the fire and the casualties were direct products of the poor conditions and lack of sanitation.

The Triangle Shirtwaist factory was an important development in American history. Junior AP United States History student Arley Shenker joyously shouted, “[The Fire] spurred on labor reform!”  The Cornell University School of Industrial Relations proclaims that the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire “is widely considered a pivotal moment in history, leading to the transformation of the labor code of New York State and to the adoption of fire safety measures that served as a model for the whole country” (www.ilr.cornell.edu).

The innocent lives of the workers at that fateful Greenwich Village garment factory were not lost in vain; they gave new hope and glory to factories in America and even worldwide.  Passionate patriot junior Adam Bussey professed, “Factory workers are what hold America together.  Factory workers promote freedom and liberty across this glorious nation of ours.  USA USA USA USA!!!”

Something else happened after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, however: the American justice system was tested.  Isaac Harris and Max Blanck were charged with manslaughter for indirectly causing the death of the 146 defendants, which seemed like an obvious crime.  Yet, with the help of New York lawyer Max. D Steuer, they escaped the jaws of the American legal system.  The failure of the law also made an impact, as corruption and elitism rose above the rights of the common man and the proletariat.

Currently, unfortunately, labor is being tested once again!  The limitation of public unions in Wisconsin and the current efforts in Ohio to ban unions for public employees and employees of public higher-educational institutions demonstrate the deterioration of the principles of labor greats such as the American Federation of Labor’s Samuel Gompers (who took advantage of the tragedy to improve righteousness and to raise awareness of the plight of the poor working class).

Sophomore debater Lizzy Faeth supported the basic labor human rights by saying, “I believe that the current protests [in reaction to the Wisconsin labor policies] have effectively drawn attention to unfair legislation, so labor rights would actually be protected rather than threatened.”

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire represents the fact that America must understand the rights of the labor.  By remembering the innocent lives lost, hopefully America will understand that labor rights are valuable; the deficit can be cut eventually, but human rights must be preserved today.