The document discusses the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 and the events leading up to it. It describes how women garment workers in New York City organized massive strikes to protest low wages, unsafe working conditions, and lack of union recognition. The document provides details of a 1909 strike involving 20,000 shirtwaist workers. It notes the women faced brutal treatment from police and hired thugs during the strikes and picketing. The safety issues and wage increases the women struck for were never implemented. The fire broke out 18 months later at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.

2. Trapped! The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

6. The Uprising of 20,000 Police routinely arrested picketers for minor or imaginary offenses while employers hired local thugs to beat them as police looked the other way.