TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY |
SHIRTWAIST STRIKE |
The Triangle shirtwaist factory was founded by Max Blanck and Isaac Harris in August of 1900. They started the factory in order to capitalize on one of the biggest fashions of the 1890s, the shirtwaist. The shirtwaist was another name for a woman's blouse. This fashion was made famous by Charles Dana Gibson and his "Gibson Girls".
The shirtwaist and the idea of a Gibson Girl symbolized a new movement towards freedom for women. By 1910, over five million women were working in the United States.
Conditions in factories like the Triangle factory were not good. The average workweek was 84 hours, 12 hours a day every day. During the busy season, workers could work up to 100 hours a week. But, the worst thing about these factories was the practice of working the employees in harsh conditions and paying them very little. For instance, if an employee worked one hundred hours, she might receive five dollars for her work. That is if she wasn't charged for her usage of needles, thread, and sewing machines.
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Many workers in the early 20th century organized to protest the conditions of factories like the Triangle. Employees were overworked, underpaid, and badly treated in the factories.
In September of 1909, a secret meeting took place in Clinton Hall. About 150 Triangle employees went to the meeting and heard from leaders of Women's Trade Union League. Blanck and Harris heard of the meeting and announced an in-house union would be made. They also announced that anyone who was part of another union would be fired. Workers of the Triangle factory didn't listen, and the day after the owners announced the in-house union, the Triangle factory was temporarily shut down and the workers decided to strike.
The Triangle factory was one of the nearly five hundred shops that waist employees went on strike. When the employees went on strike, the owners of some of the largest factories in New York, including the owners of the Triangle factory, got together to fight back against the strike. Max Blanck and Isaac Harris eventually surrendered their fight against the strikers. They hired their employees back for higher wages and shorter work weeks. The Triangle factory owners also recognized the union after banning it for a long time.
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