LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the 99th Anniversary of the Trian-
gle Shirtwaist Factory Fire on March 25, 2010

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to commemorate the
99th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire on March 25,
2010; and
WHEREAS, On Tuesday, March 23, 2010 at 1:00 p.m., a special memorial
ceremony, including an Exhibit and a Legislative Resolution honoring the
memory of those who were lost, will be held by the New York State
Commissioner of Labor, Colleen Crawford Gardner, and the New York State
Senate commemorating the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, following in
the footsteps of Former Labor Commissioner Frances Perkins who said,
"They did not die in vain and we will not forget them."; and
WHEREAS, It is the further intent of this Legislative Body to recog-
nize the ongoing efforts of UNITE HERE, the Union of Needletrades,
Industrial, and Textile Employees, in striving to make working condi-
tions for the American people the safest in the world; and
WHEREAS, Each year, UNITE HERE, together with the New York City Fire
Department, commemorates the anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist
Factory Fire at the original site of the tragedy with a wreath and
speeches, and members of Ladder Company 20, the first to respond to the
fire, toll their bell and raise their ladder to the sixth floor; this
year the ceremony will take place on Thursday, March 25, 2010, at the
corner of Washington Place and Greene Street; and
WHEREAS, A memorial ceremony will also be held to commemorate the 99th
Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire on Thursday, March
25th, at the CNL Center of the Christ the King High School in Queens;
and
WHEREAS, With the terrible attack on our Nation of September 11, 2001,
still so painfully fresh in our hearts and minds, it is more important
than ever that we reflect on the strength and heritage of our great
country; we owe a debt of gratitude and remembrance to our immigrant
forebears and, while the Triangle toll was a grievous wound for our
Jewish and Italian grandparents and ancestors, all should join together
to record, remember and memorialize the sacrifices and courage of all
the immigrants who built this nation so that their children and descend-
ants would reap the rewards of their achievements and enjoy the benefits
of life and liberty in America, the greatest country in the world; and
WHEREAS, At the turn of the century, urban working conditions in the
United States were appalling; no place else were these conditions more
deplorable than in New York's garment industry; here, young women, most-
ly recent immigrants, toiled from dawn to dusk; in the winter of 1909, a
strike was organized; the Union believed that if it could get 3,000
workers to go out on strike, the strike would be successful; amazingly,
20,000 women, including workers from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory,
joined the strike, but despite their courageous efforts, the conditions
did not improve; and
WHEREAS, The shirtwaist was the uniform of the new woman; the first
women to go out to work as "typewriters" wore it; so did the "Gibson
Girls" that Charles Dana Gibson drew playing golf or croquet; it was the
first civilian garment simple and loosely fitted enough to be made in
factories by the dozens, instead of custom-made one at a time by dress-
makers or tailors; and
WHEREAS, By the early 1890s, shirtwaists were being made in modern
factories, at long rows of sewing machines powered by electricity; Max
Blanck and Isaac Harris, owners of the million-dollar Triangle Shirt-
waist Co., with operations in New York and Philadelphia, were "the

shirtwaist kings"; their biggest factory occupied the top three floors
of a new, fireproof building, a block from Washington Square in New York
and employed approximately 600 people; and
WHEREAS, The employees were putting on their hats and coats at quit-
ting time on Saturday, March 25, 1911, when someone noticed smoke curl-
ing from the long rag bin under the cutting tables along the windows on
the eighth floor; the month's accumulation of linen and muslin scraps
caught fire, then the fabric that was laid out on the tables, then the
paper patterns strung open on the wire about them, then the big wicker
baskets full of bundled work that stood by each sewing machine; and
WHEREAS, There were no sprinklers; only three weeks before, an associ-
ation of property owners had met to oppose the fire department's
campaign to require them; and
WHEREAS, In the Triangle Fire, all but one of the terrified seam-
stresses and cutters on the eighth floor escaped, whether by one of the
two small elevators or down one of the building's two narrow stairways,
each wide enough for only one person to descend at a time; somebody
telephoned a warning to the executives on the 10th floor, where the fire
quickly spread, and many from the offices and the pressing and shipping
rooms on the 10th floor, including the shirtwaist owners themselves,
caught an elevator or escaped over the roof; and
WHEREAS, Tragically, nobody told the ninth floor; by the time they
knew, they were caught between fires above and below them; some ran for
the elevators, others for the doors to the stairs; one set of doors was
locked to keep girls from leaving early; the doors to the other stairway
opened inward, and almost immediately the terrified crush made it impos-
sible to open them; soon the stairs were cut off by the fire; and
WHEREAS, The elevator operators did their best, each making seven or
eight trips through smoke and flames, but as the fire grew, it forced
one after another of the desperate waiting crowds of girls and young
women to leap into the open shaft, until finally the elevators could not
rise because they were jammed by bodies; and
WHEREAS, The rest of the ninth-floor workers were forced to the
windows; they stood on the ledges as long as they could, waiting for the
fire ladders, but the city's longest ladder reached only to the sixth
floor, and as the fire reached out the windows after them, they began to
jump, many holding hands, to their deaths on the sidewalks and fences
below; and
WHEREAS, The date March 25th holds a special significance for all
working people because of this tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Company Fire
in New York City that took the lives of 146 garment workers, a tragedy
that occurred on March 25, 1911; and
WHEREAS, Among those lost were many sisters, mothers, daughters and
family groups, including Mrs. Caterina Maltese, and her daughters, Lucia
and Rosaria; and
WHEREAS, This tragedy became the most vivid symbol of the need for
workplace safety and spawned the labor movement; the Factory Investigat-
ing Commission was formed following the fire to study and make recommen-
dations on working conditions; this marked the beginning of auspicious
political careers for both the Chairman, Robert T. Wagner, Sr., who went
on to become a U.S. Senator, and its Vice Chairman, Alfred E. Smith, who
became New York State Governor; in addition, among the investigating
inspectors were Frances Perkins and Rose Schneiderman, women who were
pivotal in the history of American labor; the findings of the Commission
became the basis for far-reaching safety laws across the nation and
forged the New York State Department of Labor; the Triangle Shirtwaist
Factory Fire started a movement to fight sweatshops which continues to
this day; and

WHEREAS, Research has determined that the majority of the tragic
victims were Jewish and Italian immigrants; and
WHEREAS, The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire serves as a sad reminder
that worker safety laws are necessary to ensure a safe working place for
all Americans; we honor the memory of the 146 immigrant victims of this
calamity, and their loved ones, by remaining vigilant to ensure that a
similar tragedy never happens again; and
WHEREAS, Upon the occasion of the 99th Anniversary of the Triangle
Shirtwaist Factory Fire, it is the sense of this Legislative Body to
join with UNITE HERE, the New York State Department of Labor and the New
York State Legislature, in commemoration of a tragic event of such mean-
ingful significance to the history and purpose of the American labor
movement; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 99th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
at a special ceremony to be held on March 23, 2010, and to acknowledge
the efforts of UNITE HERE, Governor David A. Paterson, Senator John
Sampson, Senator Dean Skelos, the Commissioner of Labor, Colleen Craw-
ford Gardner, and the New York State Legislature; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to John W. Wilhelm, President, UNITE HERE; Robert E. Beloten,
Chair of the New York State Workers' Compensation Board; Salvatore J.
Cassano, New York City Fire Commissioner; Vincent C. Maltese, Board
Chairman, Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Memorial Society; Serphin
Maltese; and New York State Commissioner of Labor, Colleen Crawford
Gardner.