Public Employee Press

Remembering the 1911 Triangle fire tragedy

DC 37 activists were among the thousands who commemorated the tragic factory fire that killed 146 garment workers, mostly young immigrant women, on March 25 1911.

Demonstrators honored the victims of the conflagration March 25 at the 23-29 Washington Place site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire. DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts and Safety Director Lee Clarke joined labor leaders, family members, poets and other artists on the podium at the midday event in Lower Manhattan.

"The fire opened our eyes to the tragic consequences of wretched working conditions," said U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. "As the smoke settled that day, the scene revealed a workplace unfit for any human being - absent of security, dignity and respect for those workers."

The lives of the 146 employees who worked on the eighth, ninth and tenth floors were snuffed out in only 26 minutes as they were unable to escape the burning sweatshop. Many died trying to force open locked doors or after jumping out of the windows to escape the flames.

Clarke is a member of the Triangle Shirtwaist Memorial group, which held its annual commemoration of the fire that evening. The group presented scholarships and honored David Michaels, U.S. assistant secretary of labor for Occupational Safety and Health, Bill Henning, chair of the New York Committee on Occupational Safety and Health; NYCOSH Executive Director Joel Shufro; New York state Sen. Diane Savino and state AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes.

Opposition to safety enforcement

Clarke noted that Michaels is in the bull's-eye of Republican legislators because of his longtime support for worker safety, his current efforts to strengthen enforcement and his book, "Doubt Is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health." The book shows how industry uses public relations to block public health protections.

"He is a giant in the field," Clarke said of Michaels, who worked closely with DC 37's job safety and health program.