Date of publication: June 1, 2010
Source: The Ithaca Journal
Author: Krisy Gashler
In March 1911, a raging fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. With factory doors locked from the outside to prevent workers from taking breaks, 146 young workers -- most of them women -- were killed.
The incident served as the catalyst for the United States to enact worker safety legislation. However, because so many garments sold in the U.S. are now made in developing countries, consumers may not know the conditions under which workers toil to produce their clothing, said Andrew Wolf, a recent Cornell University graduate and former president of the Cornell Organization for Labor Action.
As horrific as the Triangle fire was, "the exact same thing happened in the last few years in Bangladesh," Wolf said.
In February 2006, more than 50 workers were killed in a KTS Textile factory in Bangladesh when a boiler exploded and many exits were padlocked....