NEW YORK — The centennial commemoration of the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire became a rally for organized labor Friday, as hundreds marched and vowed to resist efforts to weaken unions in state capitals across the country.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer drew loud cheers when he pledged to fight “right-wing ideologues” trying to curb worker protections.
The rally in New York’s Greenwich Village neighborhood took place outside the former Triangle factory building, which burned March 25, 1911. Earlier, many people hoisting signs designed to look like shirtwaist blouses and bearing the names of the dead marched from Union Square south to the 10-story building, now part of New York University.
The Triangle fire killed 146 people and helped to galvanize the U.S. labor movement.
The victims were mostly young immigrant women, many of whom jumped to their death to escape the flames. The tragedy prompted many improvements in fire safety across the country, such as sprinkler installation and laws mandating fire drills. Days after the fire, 100,000 mourners marched in a funeral procession through the streets of New York, while another 250,000 lined the route.
Many of the victims’ family members and descendants attended the ceremony Friday. Pete Doob, a laboratory worker from Columbia, Md., came to honor his great aunt, 21-year-old Violet Schechter, who died in the fire just a week before she was to be married.
“There were no regulations back then, and there was no union to enforce them,” Doob said. “With neither of those, the workers didn’t have a chance.”
Speakers criticized Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who pushed through legislation this month to eliminate public workers’ right to collective bargaining.
U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, who spoke at the ceremony, offered her support for unions pushing back.
“Today we honor workers in communities all across this great country protesting loudly the actions to strip them of collective bargaining — of their right to have a voice in the workplace. We applaud you,” she said.
