I was not aware of the Triangle Shirt Waste Factory Fire that took place, and I’ve lived in NYC my entire life. This just shows you how much of NYC and America’s ugly history is kept hidden. Given this was the deadliest fire before Twin Tower, is even more shocking. When I think of sweatshops, I think of the employees to mostly be women. The terrible conditions within a sweatshop, it unfortunate a situation like this had to happen for NYC, to realize better laws for the safety of employees need to be better. Why are doors being closed from the outside in, to keep the employees inside? The workers were treated like scrum, without any consideration for their livelihood.
I’m not surprised this started a labor movement. Now while many changes have been made in America, this doesn’t discredit sweatshops overseas. The fashion industry is a wasteful, greedy institution. So though sweatshops are pretty much illegal in America, for us to enjoy our indulgence requires these shops to continue overseas. As the YouTube video Triangle Returns explain, we need to implement rules that protect these employees overseas. How can we claim to care about human life, or “Fair Trade”, but have our biggest cooperations allow children overseas to work for pennies to satisfy or greed?
I started to be more consciously aware of how my habits impact the world around me. I’m very serious about the clothing I wear, and it is either ethically sourced and or 2nd hand. I remember American Apparel, being one of the first brands to speak out about the conditions of sweatshops, which is why they were so proud to be an American company. It is cheaper to source out of the county, but if it is coming cheaper, at what cost. I can’t comfortably support a company that is willing to exploit children and women for pennies.
