Something from the readings that really struck me was the type of jobs accepted by 19th century immigrants. One particular industry that sounded especially horrific was the garment industry. In high school, I learned about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. This factory was notorious for its horrendous working conditions, lack of ventilation, and poor construction. A common practice among the factory owners was to chain the doors of each floor shut so the workers wouldn’t feel tempted to leave or take breaks. This would prove tragic, as all these factors combined left the workers trapped with no way to escape. In all, nearly 150 workers died from that fire. Hence, I was shocked to learn from the readings that these conditions were common among most garment factories in New York City at the end of the 19th century. Jews who first worked in these factories on the Lower East Side were usually women who had no choice but to accept absurdly low wages for the amount of hours they put in. In fact, women had to actually pay to get a job in a factory, holding the money as collateral. Bosses would use the threat of firing and of terminating their collateral to prevent women from complaining about the conditions. Therefore, the women had to deal with working in small cramped rooms with no windows or ventilation. The situation for these women was so terrible that women would be cheated out of salaries on a regular basis, sometimes even by employers of the same ethnicity. Some would try to sue their bosses, but their attempts were unsuccessful.
The most shocking part of these readings was the fact that there are immigrants today who still work in these miserable conditions. Immigrants from Mexico, Ecuador, and China have filled the roles of the Jewish women from 100 years ago. I was appalled to learn of the large number of garment factories that still exist today in Chinatown. These factories are developed from abandoned apartment buildings, and therefore are crowded, cramped, and poorly ventilated. These working conditions could easily lead to a fire reminiscent of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory of the early 20th century. It makes no sense to me that in our modern day and age, with all the technological innovations, there are existing factories that could pass for a 19th century business. All it takes is one disaster, one incident, that will force somebody to reprimand the Chinatown garment industry. Unfortunately, a tragedy may be the only catalyst for improving the conditions faced by immigrant garment workers.
