The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and Its Impact on HRM Practices

This report analyzes the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911, a pivotal event in labor history, which claimed the lives of 146 young immigrant workers in New York City. The incident exposed the inhumane working conditions prevalent in the garment industry, highlighting issues of workplace safety, equity, and employee voice. The report examines the fire's impact on the development of employment laws and regulations, emphasizing the importance of fair wages, equitable treatment, and employee influence in the workplace. It discusses key concepts like efficiency, equity, and voice within the context of the fire and its aftermath. The report references relevant academic sources to support its analysis of the fire's historical significance and its lasting influence on human resource management practices.

Human Resource Management
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Table of Contents
To understand why employment laws were developed, let’s look at a prominent, tragic
incident in labour history...........................................................................................................3
Read/watch a description of the event...................................................................................3
Analyse the material...............................................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................5
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To understand why employment laws were developed, let’s look at a prominent, tragic
incident in labour history.
Read/watch a description of the event
This incident is about the fire at Triangle Waist Company situated in New York City that has
been seen claiming the lives of 146 young immigrant workers (Remembering the Triangle
Shirtwaist fire, 2018). This incident is known s the worst disaster since the Industrial
Revolution began. The incident of the fire at Triangle Waist Company had a great
significance as it showed the inhuman working conditions of the industrial workers. The
tragedy of the fire incident still brings shivers down the spine of many individuals. The
victims of the incident are celebrated as martyrs. The company was known to be a typical
sweated organization in the heart of Manhattan. The owners of the building were Max Blanck
and Isaac Harris under which many workers toiled. It has been known that the owners were
unaware of the rates given to the workers and exactly how many workers worked at the
factory. It was so seemed that the owners subcontracted work to individuals who hired hands
and put the profit inside their pocket.
This incident had enables many revolutions around New York. It has been seen that the
International Ladies Garment Workers union organized many workers from Nw York in the
women's clothing trade. Before the year 1911, it has been known that the garment workers
were unorganized (Ward, 2017). The main reason was that they were young immigrants in a
new environment.
The incident happened as such that in the year 1911 a fire was seen at the top floors of the
Asch Building. In very few minutes the afternoon turned out to be a massacre. A tragedy, a
terrifying moment, a mint of disbelief shadowed down the New York City. When the fire was
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put out it was found that 146 of the total 500 employees have lost their lives. Those who
survived had to live with the trauma of the incident for a lifetime.
The workers at the Triangle Waist Factory were identified to be women and children as
young as 14 years old (Robinson & Robinson, 2018). They were also identified as the
European and Italian Jewish immigrants. This incident in real shook New York and after this
incident, the fire and safety regulation at the workplace and labour law was introduced.
Analyse the material
Equity, efficiency and voice are some of the major terms used in the corporate world. It has
been seen big organizations thriving for profit often squeeze the employees to the maximum
of its productivity for their profit. That is known as the efficiency of an employee. In terms of
equity, it means that the employees earn a fair wage based on their work (Saundry, Bennett &
Wibberley, 2018). Then it is expected from the employee's point of view to have a voice or
influence in their working environment.
In case of efficiency, it is the lookout of the management. It needs to be seen that the
organization is getting most from the resources. Equity, on the other hand, is referred to as
the fair treatment from the employer including compensation (Pohler & Luchak, 2014). There
are different government regulations that take care of equity at the workplace. Having a voice
of own is the lookout of the employee itself.
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References
Pohler, D. M., & Luchak, A. A. (2014). Balancing efficiency, equity, and voice: The impact
of unions and high-involvement work practices on work outcomes. ILR Review, 67(4), 1063-
1094.
Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ulaG9x4GpE
Robinson, P. H., & Robinson, S. (2018). CRIMES THAT CHANGED OUR WORLD:
TRAGEDY, OUTRAGE, AND REFORM: Chapter One: 1911 Triangle Factory Fire:
Building Safety Codes.
Saundry, R., Bennett, T., & Wibberley, G. (2018). Inside the mediation room-efficiency,
voice and equity in workplace mediation. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 29(6), 1157-1177.
Ward, C. (2017). Review of 'See You In The Streets: Art, Action, and Remembering the
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire'. Reviews In History. doi: 10.14296/rih/2014/2144
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