Factory Reform

The absurd extent that some laws went to to benefit the factory owners over the employees can be demonstrated by a single provision of the Labor Law, regarding the permitted number of people on a floor in regard to space. The air space provision simply states that there must be a minimum of 250 cubic feet of air space per person. In perspective, the floors are usually at least 10 feet high, so a room may comply with the legal requirement, while completely not improving the congestion on the floor. This law ignores floor area, which makes an extremely overcrowded reality completely legal, and common. Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor and a member of the Factory Investigative Commission, effectively stated that the
For example, in response to the increased activism the political leaders of Tammany Hall of New York, Smith and Wagner, were forced to alter their position on reform. Eventually, leaders of both parties started embracing factory and industrial reform, and were now supporting Newman, Lemlich, and Schneiderman, whom they were once fighting against with strikebreakers. Quickly after the fire, the Fire Prevention Bureau was established in New York. The conditions of factories also improved dramatically after the Fire, mostly due to the immediate establishment of the Factory Investigating Commission on June 30, 1911 by Governor Dix, which sparked the reform movement. In its four year lifetime, the Commission gathered an abundance of information that directly lead to the creation of laws in response to the overwhelming health violations that were discovered. As the years passed and more laws were created, the Triangle Fire’s importance grew because it sparked these in-depth
In 1912, laws were passed in regard to many of the immediate problems, including fire drills and alarms, automatic sprinklers, maternity leave, and fire prevention. In 1913, laws were passed involving fire escapes, exits, elevators, child labor, cleanliness, ventilation, and the size of rooms. While these were deeper rooted problems, the quick turnaround of legislation in just two years is truly remarkable. These laws marked a new age of labor legislation in New York, placing New York in the lead in the country for protecting wage earners over helping owners. The work and importance of the Commission may be measured by the amount of laws it gave rise to, but it should be most remembered by the change it caused in the public’s eye; to no longer accept these horrendous conditions, simply to benefit the