This is Chris Garlock, with the latest labor news, updates and history from the Metro Washington Labor Council.
In today’s labor history, on this date in 1910, six young women burned to death and 19 more died when they leapt from the fourth-story windows of a blazing factory in Newark, New Jersey. The floors and stairs were wooden; the only door from which the women could flee was locked. Just over a hundred years later, on November 24, 2012, a fire broke out at the Tazreen factory in Bangladesh. At least 112 workers were killed and many more were injured after they got trapped in the factory building. The windows of the nine-story building were blocked with bars to prevent theft. Fire exits were either non-existent or closed, making it impossible for most workers to escape the building. Many workers jumped to their deaths as they tried to escape the flames, others were burned alive. Today’s labor quote is by Nazrin, a 23-year-old machine operator at the Tazreen factory. Nazrin, who said: “At 6:40 PM the alarm went off. The manager said ‘nothing has happened, continue your work.’ After a few minutes we saw smoke. I jumped through a window that some workers had broken.” Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. Visit unionplus.org to find out how union members might take advantage of a limited-time wireless offer from AT&T.
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