100 years ago 146 people died in a tragic fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in New York City. Working conditions were deplorable including doors bolted shut.It is unbelievable to see writers try to make comparisons between the labor conditions in the early 1900s and recent events related to public employee unions. One of many articles I read today states "When word got out that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker had ordered the windows of the state Capitol building bolted shut during the protests against his attacks on public employees, it was a chilling reminder of how employers of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company had locked their factory doors, preventing the young, mostly immigrant women from escaping the deadly fire that killed 146". In another article, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer states that "Walker and others "want to drag our nation back to 1911."
These comparisons sicken me. The protesters at the capitol could walk right out the front door. Shut windows in no way put them into the danger seen in New York in 1911. There is no doubt that reforms were needed at that time.
Today reforms are needed in our government budgets. There is a vast difference between addressing out of control budgets including looking at the wages and pensions of workers and having people work in life threatening conditions. The comparisons made between recent events in Wisconsin and horrors of the past are ridiculous and in no way honor those that lost their lives.
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