113 years after Triangle Fire, worker revolt rises across US

I wonder what my Great Aunt Fannie would think of today’s American workplace, with a percolating revival of its labor movement.

On March 25, 1911, Fannie Lansner – the 21-year-old sister of my paternal grandfather – and 145 others perished in the 18-minute blaze known as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. She had been in America just four years after immigrating from Lithuania.

The gruesome deaths – 80 of which involved workers leaping from the Manhattan high-rise factory’s windows to escape the flames, including Fannie – sparked a revolution in workplace safety, building codes, and unionization.

I’d think my great-aunt would cheer the renewed worker battle for better workplaces after decades of declining union membership.

Worker revolt

Last year saw a curious uptick in labor activity as the worst bout of inflation in four decades nudged workers to demand far more from their employers – and be willing to strike when denied.

Labor researchers at Cornell University and the University of Illinois found the number of US work stoppages grew by 9% last year to 470. Though most of the strikes were brief with 62% of last year’s stoppages running four days or less.

But it was the size of the strikes that was eye-catching with 539,000 workers in stoppages – up 141% in a year.

California was the national strike hub with three of the year’s biggest strikes: SAG-AFTRA, Kaiser Permanente, and Los Angeles Unified School District. Add in the UAW’s Stand-Up Strike, and you’ve got four major walkouts involving 65% of all workers who struck in 2023.

Those California-centric big strikes helped form the rankings of industries with the most workers on the picket lines in 2023. Top strike targets were in information (think Hollywood), health care and social assistance, and educational services.

And what did workers walk out for in 2023? The university researchers say the most common strike demands were compensation, health and safety concerns, and increased staffing.

And No. 5 on that list were strikes tied to workers getting their initial union contract – a sign of organized labor’s growth. These 74 stoppages were double 2022.

So, look at the union upswing of 2023 this way: There were nearly 25 million work days on strike in 2023 in the US – a five-fold increase in a year.

The grand question is whether recent union activity is primarily fallout from the economic turmoil created by the pandemic.

Will slowing job growth and cooling inflation lower worker anxiety or their willingness to participate in labor actions?

Think about one measure of unhappy workers – those who quit their jobs. After hitting record highs in 2022, quits last year fell 12% nationwide – and 67% in California.

Shrinking pie

Still, 113 years after Great Aunt Fannie’s death, America’s labor movement – which got a huge boost in the aftermath of the Triangle Fire – isn’t what it used to be.

Businesses learned to successfully push back against labor. Union corruption tarnished the movement’s image. And organized labor hotbeds – notably manufacturing jobs – became less common and less important in the US economy as many of these jobs shifted overseas.

During the past 40 years, US unions have lost one-fifth of their members as their share of all workers was halved to 10% from 20%.

In California, membership is up 20% since 1983 – but the statewide workforce grew by 70%. So, 15% of workers are unionized vs. 22% 40 years ago.

Labor’s long run

Labor progress isn’t best measured in short-term cycles.

Yes, there were some immediate pro-labor lawmaking efforts immediately after the Triangle Fire, especially in New York.

The 10-story structure that housed the doomed factory had no sprinklers and never performed a fire drill. After the disaster, building codes and workplace safety rules were swiftly upgraded. The first attempt at nationwide building codes was launched in 1927.

New York also was quick to place limits on how many hours children could work. The US Department of Labor formed in 1913. Railroad workers were the first to win a mandated eight-hour workday in 1916.

Still, it wasn’t until 1935 that the right to strike was recognized nationally. It took the US civil rights movement in 1963-64 to make discrimination at the workplace a federal offense when it came to hiring or pay.

Consider that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration – the nation’s workplace safety agency – wasn’t created until 1970.

And ponder the site of the Triangle Fire, today a New York University property.

The Brown Building, as it is now known, was only made a National Historic Landmark in 1991. Last year, a formal memorial to the fire and its victims – including my Great Aunt Fannie – was finished at the site.

Bottom line

The struggle to deftly juggle business, profitability and worker rights and safety is no easy task.

Yet, let me remind you that 5,486 Americans died on the job in 2022, the most recent data available. That’s 10% above the previous 10-year average.

In California, there were 504 workplace fatalities – second only to Texas – and 24% above the 10-year pace.

Yes, work can be dangerous. Accidents happen. Zero deaths is not an unreasonable goal.

Still, Great Aunt Fannie and the 145 other Triangle Fire victims should remind us that we should always do better.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com