New York commemorates 1911 factory fire

WW photo: Anne Pruden

The streets surrounding the site of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire were filled for the 100th anniversary commemoration on March 25. Music, readings and poetry recounted the deaths of 146 workers, mainly young Italian and Jewish immigrant women and girls, who perished in the flames or leaped to their death from factory windows. The doors had been locked by the factory owners to prevent bits of fabric from being pilfered.

The building where it happened was fireproof and still stands, now part of New York University in lower Manhattan. Black and purple mourning bunting hung from windows on the eighth floor where the fire broke out.

Most of the large crowd in attendance were union members and families of Triangle workers who joined in singing “Solidarity Forever.” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has demonized teachers and transit workers and threatened public employees with cutbacks and mass layoffs, was loudly booed as he spoke.

Commemorative events also took place in many other cities around the U.S., as workers continue to resist an assault on their rights to organize for workplace safety, justice, economic security and to stop union busting and anti-public-sector attacks.