TRIANGLE'S ECHOES: The Unfinished Struggle for Worker Protection, Safety and Health

[Shallah Kali]

Run time: 13:27 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN8cjH5qfRk   Posted on YouTube: March 21, 2011 By YouTube Member: nationalconsumers Views on YouTube: 1345   Posted on DU: March 28, 2011 By DU Member: Shallah Kali Views on DU: 169

 

How far have we really come the since 1911, when the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire killed 146 people, most of them immigrant women, nearly half still in their teens? This film was commissioned by the National Consumers League and the planning Committee for the Washington DC Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire 100th Anniversary symposium.

I found the above at this article at The American Prospect:

Child Labor vs. Tuna Fish
http://prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=03&year=2011&base_name=child_labor_vs_tuna_fish

A violation of the South Pacific Tuna Act … can be a $350,000 fine. If a dairy refuses to contribute to the fund that all dairies put into to promote milk and dairy products, the Agriculture Department can fine them $150,000. But if a worker dies, $7,000 is the maximum citation.

snip

There are between 400,000 and 500,000 children out there working in the fields. Under current U.S. law, children as young as 12 years old are allowed to work in agriculture with unlimited hours as long as it’s outside of school.

Some of the kids apparently use machetes and chainsaws. Here. In the United States. Think about that next time you take a bite of lettuce.

The film doesn’t say so, but it seems like if you put two and two together, then one workplace safety fine involving the death of one of these kids working in agriculture might literally amount to less than the fine for violating the Tuna Act.