Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Uprising Sparknotes

“Uprising” is about three girls living in early 20th century New York City. Bella, was an Italian immigrant working at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, while her whole family dies in Italy; Yetta, a Russian immigrant who also works at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was brought over by her sister Rahel; and Jane, the daughter of a rich factory owner, who runs away from home and gets a job as the governess of the daughters of Mr Blanck, the owner of Triangle. All of these are caught in the midst of the fire at Triangle in 1906, the fire really happened but these exact characters did not. Margaret Peterson Haddix wrote these characters into the story to show the effects of industrialization on the laborers of the time, how immigration played a part, and workers rights of that time. …show more content…
The factory owners tried to cut corners wherever possible including in wages by charging the workers for the littlest things “Who hasn’t been charged for the electricity, for thread, for needles? Who hasn’t been charged for shirtwaists that the contractor himself ripped?” (Haddix 59). The workers were treated unfairly and did not get paid fully for their work. That is what caused the strike that took place about a year before the fire. The workers were being charged for random things so the owners did not have to pay them, they locked them in so that they couldn’t leave during work, and they would change the clocks so that they worked longer shifts. The strike was settled but the large factories, such as Triangle would not acknowledge the workers union as part of the settlement. With the settlement not being in writing and the factory not recognizing the union there was no way for the factory to be held