When we say the term that our history repeats, the same events are likely to occur, but in different periods. Any movement, whether it be for suffrage, labor right, or equal rights amendment, people are fighting to make a change. The point of the Suffrage movement was to give women the right to vote in a time when women were seen as nothing other than mere objects of work. But, they were definitely overworked, which is seen in the fight for labor rights in hopes of better pay and working conditions. An example is the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that occurred on March 25th, 1911, and claimed the lives of 146 workers. Most of the women working in the factory were young immigrant women, which can connect to the current time when we fight for equal rights for those with immigration status. The historical issues all repeat themselves because, as women, we are still fighting for equal rights, we are fighting for immigrants who are mistreated in detention centers, etc. The labor rights issues back in the early 20th century resulted from the lack of gender justice against women. Women were seen as working objects, and just like children overworked, the women were treated the same. They were given low wages, long hours, and uncomfortable working conditions, which resulted in many dangerous scenarios. Another example of a labor rights issue was the case of the Radium Girls, which happened a few years after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Both of these cases ended up with either the workers being paid off or, in general, losing the case overall due to the power imbalance their bosses had over them. To this day, we see a lack of justice, as those with higher power abuse their power over the workers, and no one ever takes the workers seriously until it is too late. Most times, they can’t fight back due to the lack of resources, and they have to endure the mistreatment.

One hundred years later, we see how the events of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory strike again, but in different locations around the world. The majority of these well-known large businesses have overworked laborers in terrible conditions that are detrimental to their health and safety. They are put in an environment that leaves them compact and trapped with no other way to get out but the path where the danger passes through. In modern times, the laborers are hidden behind the media, but most are fighting to give those workers better pay and better conditions.