The Triangle Factory fire disaster which claimed the life of 146 workers was a clear justification of the need for labor laws. Labor laws are fundamental since workers need protection from greedy employers who are out to exploits the workers for their benefits. Some employers are profit oriented to the extent that they stretch the ethical boundaries and exploits workers to make huge profits. The investigation at Triangle factory showed that ignorance of labor laws and exploitation of the workers contributed a significant part of the fire incident that broke out in the company. The Triangle factory fire represents dark days in the labor system in the USA where the minorities in the country faced all type of oppression, discrimination and injustices. The primary objective of this paper, therefore, is to explain how ignorance of the labor laws, discrimination and abuse of the minorities in the industries led to the loss of life in the Triangle factory fire.
The fire broke out Sunday afternoon in the factory's ninth floor on March 25 th of the year 1911. Out of the 500 workers who were present in the plant at that time, 146 of them died on the spot. But what brought about the death of the innocents workers? Triangle Waist Company’s workers are mostly young women with some as young as 14 years old. Most of the workers were not Native Americans. They were immigrants from Italy and other parts of the Europe who went to get them a better life. However, these individuals did not get the kind of life they dreamt of in the US. They faced poverty and worst working conditions in the country. With nothing left to them in life, these workers had to face such kind experience for them to be at peace with the immigrant and other agencies in the country. With no education and better hope in life, these individual were ready to do anything for them to have the job, this included facing worst workplace condition with less payment without talking. The workers sometimes depend on labor unions to help them when the life was entirely unfair to them, however, this never a chive any fruitful result since the company was never a member of the labor unions. Moreover, the workers were afraid to join hands to make an impact against the company since the consequences of such objection or conflict would result in the loss of the job. So, what lead to the fire?
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Based on the investigation result from the incidence, there is much evidence which justifies that the fore could have been prevented had the right labor law issues, regulation and restriction would have been followed and put in place in the company. The evidence justifies that the labor law rules were ignored and the workers were subjected onto oppression, injustices and discrimination knowingly, which end up consuming their life on the fateful fire. First, the industry had ignored fire inspections. The fire inspection seems not to have been conducted in the factory for an extended period based on the evidenced of the fire incidence. First, the exit doors were locked, and some lead to “death” instead of safety ("Cornell University - ILR School - The Triangle Factory Fire - Story of the Fire", 2017). This was evidence of the event of the fire since most of the survivors and the witnesses of the fire incident confessed to having been trapped because the exits rout doors did not open or led to nowhere. Secondly, if the fire inspection would have been carried out, it would have revealed that the rescue ladders were too short to reach the top floor of the building. Also, it would have revealed that some of the horse pipe reels which were available to be used to splash water on the fire, were too short and inefficient to handle the role well. This evidence is clear indication that fire inspection was never held in this factory for quite some time. This is a further justification that the factory ignored labor laws and rules which needed such controls to stay in such companies.
Alternatively, the fire was caused by the general negligence and pathetic work condition which clouded the company. In this company, all kind of ill actions were taking place. The workers did much than what they were being paid. The company did not even bother to follow the wages rules since they were sure they were dealing with people who were desperate for jobs and had no knowledge of the wages rate in the country. Furthermore, the company's founders and the top officials did not even know the total number of the workers in the factory, neither did they know the actual amount of salary each worker was being paid. This made the situation even worse in this company. Lastly, the environment of the factory was very pathetic. Litters piled up too high heaven, near a flammable kind of liquids, this is one seems to be the stem of the fire as per the trial.
In conclusion, labor laws are fundamental, and their ignorance, as witnessed in the Triangle factory fire incidence, is disastrous. Based on the evidence provided in this paper, for instance, oppression, discrimination, ignorance of fire inspection, It is evident that would the labor laws and restriction been in place in the factory, the fire would have been prevented.
Reference
Cornell University - ILR School - The Triangle Factory Fire - Story of the Fire . (2017). Trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu . Retrieved 14 October 2017, from http://trianglefire.ilr.cornell.edu/story/fire.html
