Effect of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire on Labor Movement - Research Paper Example

? The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Table of Contents Introduction and Historical background 3 Effect on Labor Movement 3 Effect on Unionization of the Industry 5 Impact on Employers 6 Impact on Employees 7 Impact on Community 9 Conclusion 10 Introduction and Historical background The Triangle shirtwaist Fire is considered as one of the deadliest American and global industrial disasters. This deadliest disaster occurred on 25th March, 1911. This accident took the priceless lives of large number of people. It is recorded that this fire resulted the fourth highest loss of lives from a particular industrial disaster in the history of world and United States of America. 146 garment workers lost their lives and 71 people injured due to this disaster in which 23 were men employees and the rest 123 were the female employees. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was located in Asch Building. This factory occupied the entire eighth, ninth and tenth floor of the Asch building. The fire took place due to burn of the garbage and wastages. Poor administration and management caused the death of several priceless lives. The employees in the ninth floor did not get any kind of notification or fire alarm right after the breakout of fire. However, the legacy of this disaster still continues as the citizens of United States of America still share their sadness in the memory of the victims. This particular disaster forced the government regulatory bodies to develop several legislations and policies for the organizations in order to ensure workplace health and safety of the employees. This essay will determine the impact of The Triangle Shirtwaist factory Fire on the employers, employees, community, and industry and labor movement. Effect on Labor Movement It is true that this accident is considered as the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the United States of America. Several immigrants from Italy including both men and women were the major victims of this disaster. This accident had a strong legacy. One week after the disaster, the workers in the state planned to host a meeting regarding the inadequate workplace environment and lack of safety aspect in the factories and workplace. The citizens of United States of America and immigrants from different countries participated in the meeting to reform a labor movement in order to raise the voice against inadequate workplace health and safety aspect. People of all religious and cultural background started to host a merge or procession in the memory of victims to raise the voice against the business owners who do not think about the good health and safety of the workers. Few days, after the meeting, near about 3, 50, 000 people participated in the funeral march for the victims who lost their lives due to the particular industrial disaster (English 1). It is true that employees or the labors are the major business growth drivers of an organization. It is the responsibility of the business owners tom ensure healthy and safe workplace environment. However, immigrants from other countries started to leave their jobs due to immense fear from the particular incident. In addition to this, the social environment in United States of America was not favorable for the immigrants and the citizens of lower income group. The economic environment of United States of America was not that much prosperous and developed. People of lower or lower-middle class income group had to face difficulty to lead a healthy and standard life style. These issues were developing for several years in the United States of America. But, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire ignited the flame among the people. They tried to oppose the inadequate industrial standards and organizational policies through protest merge. However, it was highly important and essential for these immigrants and deprived citizens to get united and oppose the developed policies. A strong labor movement took place across the States in protest of the brutal disaster which forced the government regulatory bodies, industrial regulatory bodies and the business owners to review existing policies and regulations. Effect on Unionization of the Industry Garment industry was considered as the major economic growth driver of the United States of America. The Triangle Shirtwaist factory Fire affected the growth of the industry. This accident or a brutal disaster took the priceless lives of 146 workers. It caused labor movement which was affecting the image and growth of the garment industry. It is true that the garment manufacturing and distributing organizations in this modern area provides high health and safety facilities to the employees or the workers. The organizations within the garment industry started to think upon these issues as it was necessary for them to decide something new employee centric business operation policies as the scenario was getting worst. Each and every organization within different industries started to develop employee centric policies and organizational values to meet the basic satisfaction level of the employees. The industry leaders understood that the time has come for them to provide values and respects to the labors by ensuring fundamental employee rights and needs. Slowly and gradually, the federal government of the United States of America tries tom influences the industry leaders to take care the health and safety aspects of the employees in workplace. Strong labor movement created huge concern for the organizations. It is true that the post Triangle Shirtwaist factory Fire exampled numerous labor movements. In addition to this, labors or employees got unionized in different industries to protest against several existing issues in the organization. These labor movements and unionization of the labors created huge challenge and concern for the business owners (Econedlink 1). They understood that their organizations cannot make business profit unless the basic rights of labors are taken care off. Slowly and gradually, the business owners along with the industry leaders collaboratively developed workplace health and safety policies. In addition to this, immense pressure from the governmental regulatory bodies and labor unions forced the organizations to improve the workplace environment to ensure health and safety of the workers in different firms. Impact on Employers It is clear from above discussions and research work that the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire incident created huge concerns for the employers of different organizations. Several labor movements and inadequate business operation practices of the organizations influenced US congress to develop an agency that can help the country to ensure social growth. It is true that people of different countries come to United States of America in order to get a job. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire forced the governmental regulatory bodies and different public agencies to develop an organization or agency that can take care of the workplace health and safety aspect of the workers in an organization. US congress established Occupational Health and Safety administration under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. It is an agency of the Department of the Labor of the United States. Federal government of the United States of America helped US Congress to develop several policies and legislations under this act. The major objective of this agency is to ensure the health and safety of the employees within the workplace of the organizations and give training, assistance and education to the employers and employees to overcome the challenges. The occupational health and safety administration developed several policies for the organization. In addition to this, several developed industry standards forced the employers to maintain the effective workplace health and safety for the employees. The Triangle Shirtwaist factory Fire and its consequences forced the employers of each and every organization within different industries to improve the quality of workplace environment. The employers started to implement advanced and modern machineries or technological process in order to reduce the possibilities of the accidents (Nclnet 1). In addition to this, several governmental regulatory bodies and department of labor agencies tried to influence the employers of different organizations to provide safety equipments to the employees within a workplace. It was highly necessary for the employers to do so as the federal government of the United States of America developed several regulatory policies and laws for the organizations. The organization has to face legal issues in case of violation of the developed laws and policies. The officials and other individuals of OSHA used to provide training to the employers and employees regarding new machineries and technologies. The incident of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory Fire forced the organization to take valuable initiatives in order to avoid the possibilities of similar disaster. Now-a-days, each and every factory in the United States of America used to ensure supportive fire exit and sufficient fire distinguisher. These initiatives help several organizations and their employees to reduce the number of casualties in case of any kind of emergency. Apart from all the above mentioned aspects, the employers are focusing on ensuring health and safety of the employees in order to get huge response from the existing internal and external stakeholders. Each and every investor or the shareholders or the stakeholders used take interest in the business processes of the organization by reviewing the sustainable performances and corporate governance of the organizations. The organizations used to provide valuable training and orientation process for the employees in order to minimize the threat of workplace disaster. Impact on Employees 100 years of the disaster of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire have gone passed. Things and scenarios have changed for the employees who used to work in several organizations or factories. The organizations in the United States of America used to focus on effective human resource management practices in which as the management of the organizations takes care of the health and safety of the employees in the workplace. Several labor movements and valuable support from the department of labor union or several government regulatory bodies help the employees to enjoy their basic employment rights in the workplaces. According to the developed policies of Occupational Safety and Health Act, the employees have the basic rights to make or file a complaint against the employers in the organization in case of several unethical issues and challenges (OSHA 3). The Italian Immigrants were the major victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. During that period of time, the immigrants’ basic rights in workplace were violated. In addition to this, the incident in the year 2011 forced several immigrants to leave their job due to inadequate workplace environment and lack of workplace safety aspect. However, it is true that the environment has changed in United States of America. Employee friendly policies and legislations motivate the labors or employees to give their fullest effort. It is discussed earlier that the according to the developed policies and regulations, it is the basic employment rights of the employees to file a legal complaint against the employer in case of any legal issues. These policies helped the employees to work freely and force the management or the employers of the organizations to review each and every strategies and operation processes after a certain period of time. The labor movement after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire unionized the employees and labors of each and every industry to demand for safe and healthy workplace environment. According to the developed policies of Occupational safety and Health act, the Federal government of the United States of America can restrict the business operation processes in case of any violation of rules and regulations. Now-a-days, people used to enjoy the work culture of the organizations as the organizations are focusing on employees’ health and safety aspect. It is true that, earlier the organizations in the United States of America used to face several legal issues, such as workplace conflicts, caste and religious conflicts, cultural conflicts, gender conflicts and in adequate workplace environment. Reformed industrial standards and interfere of the federal government of the United States of America helped people to work with good health and safety in different organizations. Impact on Community It is clear from above discussions and analysis that the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire were the Italian Immigrants. It is very much important for an organization to maintain effective workplace environment. Inadequate health and safety aspect in the workplace caused the disaster. The Triangle Shirtwaist factory Fire helped to show the world that how health and safety aspects are significantly associated with the fundamental issues in a workplace (OSHA 34). In those days, the employers of various organizations were only concerned about the profit maximization and high revenue generation. It seriously violated the basic rights of each and every people within the communities. People of different cast, culture, religion and genders used to stay within a community, Violation of the basic rights of employees forced entire community in the United States of America to take part in the labor movement and industry unionization. Major objectives behind these revolutions were to raise voice against the unethical practices of the employers and to create awareness among the governmental regulatory bodies to take appropriate steps against the issues that are developed due to inadequacy of the management of the organizations. It was important for the government, policy developers and industry leaders to identify the nexus of the women employees’ shifting role in the early 20th century. It is clear from above mentioned statistics that maximum women immigrants were hired by the organizations. The business owners used to provide low wages to these women employees comparing to other male employees. The occupational health and safety administration developed policy of equality between the women and men employees regarding social recognition and wage distribution. The United States of America is considered as socially and economically developed country. effective developed policies by government to ensure health and safety of employees helped people to capitalize on the opportunities based on their basic rights in the organization in case of any deregulation by the employers. Now-a-days, several organizations in the United States of America are trying to organize community development programs in order to make the people happy and concerned. The governmental regulatory bodies need to influence the organizations to review their plans and policies in order to bring sustainability in society and community. Conclusion Global business environment is becoming highly competitive as several leading organizations are developing and implementing effective business operation strategies in order to ensure significant sales and market share growth rate. Now-a-days, organizations are trying to satisfy the basic needs of employees as the skilled and effective employees are considered as the major business growth drivers. Several incidents and legal barriers forced the organizations to focus on the development of employee centric business operation policies. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire showed the organizations that it is important to take care of the health and safety of the employees in workplace. It is true that several labor movements and industry unionizations forced Federal government of the United States of America to develop policies and industry standards for the organizations. Revolution in the labor movement unionized several industries’ workers to get unionized and protest against the unethical business operation policies of the organizations. The consequences of the disaster in the year of 1911 forced the organizations to think about sustainable business operation startgeies in which the health and safety of the employees should be taken care off. The 100 years have passed but the legacy of The Triangle Shirtwaist factory Fire is still continuing. Works Cited OSHA. Commemorates the Centennial of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. 2011. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. . OSHA. Worker’s Rights. 2011. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. Nclnet. 100 years later: The triangle shirtwaist fire’s continued legacy. 2013. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. . Econedlink. Worker Safety - The Triangle Fire Legacy. 2013. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. . English. About the Triangle Fire. 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. Read More