Today In Labor History March 26, 1912: A mining disaster at Jed, West Virginia, killed 83 workers.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #mining #workplacesafety #disaster #westvirginia

Today in Labor History March 25, 1911: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City killed 146 people, mostly immigrant women and young girls who were working in sweatshop conditions. As tragic as this fire was for poor, working class women, over 100 workers died on the job each day in the U.S. in 1911. What was most significant was that this tragedy became a flash point for worker safety and public awareness of sweatshop conditions.

The Triangle workers had to work from 7:00 am until 8:00 pm, seven days a week. The work was almost non-stop. They got one break per day (30 minutes for lunch). For this they earned only $6.00 per week. In some cases, they had to provide their own needles and thread. Furthermore, the bosses locked the women inside the building to minimize time lost to bathroom breaks.

A year prior to the fire, 20,000 garment workers walked off the job at 500 clothing factories in New York to protest the deplorable working conditions. They demanded a 20% raise, 52-hour work week and overtime pay. Over 70 smaller companies conceded to the union’s demands within the first 48 hours of the strike. However, the bosses at Triangle formed an employers’ association with the owners of the other large factories. Soon after, strike leaders were arrested. Some were fined. Others were sent to labor camps. They also used armed thugs to beat up and intimidate strikers. By the end of the month, almost all of the smaller factories had conceded to the union. By February, 1910, the strike was finally settled.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #TriangleShirtwaistFire #workplacedeaths #strike #union #immigrant #sweatshop #childlabor #workplacesafety #fire #women #prison #newyork

#OTDIH

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, 1911

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

Today in Labor History March 24, 1989: The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, dumping 240,000 barrels of crude oil. It was the largest oil spill in U.S. history until the Deepwater Horizon spill, in 2010. A major cause for the tanker’s collision was an overworked and under-rested crew, which the National Transportation Safety Board determined was a widespread practice. Thousands of people who participated in the cleanup efforts developed liver, kidney, lung, nervous system, and blood disorders due to 2-butoxyethanol and other agents that were used. An estimated 250,000 sea birds; 2,800 sea otters; 300 harbor seals, 247 bald eagles; 22 orcas; and unknown numbers of fish were killed by the spill. A study by the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA found that 90 tons of oil remained on beaches in Prince William Sound in 2001. The devastation to the local fisheries caused the bankruptcy of the Chugach Alaska Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #exxon #valdez #oilspill #environment #indigenous #alaska #WorkplaceSafety #ecology