I am a bit late with my post and I apologize,
First, I watched a video about the ash Building fire also known as the shirtwaist fire. This was known as the biggest deadly event in the of the United States before the 9/11 attacks. In the video they mentioned how the people in charge would exploit the women and girls to work for hours and hours without a break. They would even go as far as the lock emergency exits so that they would not sneak away and take breaks. Then as we know March 25, 1911, a great tragedy happened when a fire broke out and 146 young women and girls perished. It was later found that the building did not have a working sprinkler system. Protest broke out, 350,000 people (about half the population of Vermont) took the streets of NYC. This led to the making of the international Ladies Garment Workers Union. Which was made to protect working women. By 1938 there were no longer any sweat shops in the United States.
Now the second video also was very emotional for me as well because it was the shirtwaist fire all over again. December 14th, 2010, in Bangladesh a fire broke out and 29 workers died and over 100 were injured. It was also known that the bosses of the factory in Dhaka would lock the doors during fires so that no one would steal them. The families were compensated with only 2,080 dollars, that is how much life is worth in a third world country. In Dhaka, the highest pay per hour is 28 cents an hour. The people of Dhaka protested for a raise of 35 cents an hour! And where met with imprisonment or battery. Companies like Walmart and Gap refused to pay. The people of Bangladesh are exploited and have no workers union protection.
This leads me to the article about Virginia became the 38th state to pass the equal rights amendment, which consists of a proposed amendment to the US stating that one may not be denied based on one’s sex. This article explains the concerns and the positive possibilities of having an equal rights amendment. It would have no room for sliding back into the old ways.it would also give us some space for improvement. The article also explains how few people know about the US not ratifying the amendment and it is important that people become aware of this. This is a good step for the future of our working class
Hello Natasha. I learned about the triangle shirtwaist fire back in 7th grade and I remember feeling so sorry for these women that had to endure the horrible work conditions and terrible pay. These women never got a break and were so overworked that they fell asleep while doing their tasks. The video about the tragedy in Bangladesh broke my heart because this wasn’t the first time for something like this to happen and it could’ve been prevented.