We at the Hub support the democratic process and the maintaining of sustainable employment and quality of life for all workers.

Talk is cheap.  That’s why we are offering a 10% discount with proof of union membership*

On March 25, 1911 New York City witnessed the deadliest manufacturing disaster in U.S. history. This tragedy occurred on the heels of massive union organizing in the garment district, which was ironically initiated by many of the 146 women, men and children whose lives were claimed in the Triangle Shirt Waist Co. Factory Fire.

According to The Economist’s March, 2011 Hundredth year commemorative article on the Triangle Fire, “the tragedy became a catalyst for a broad range of reforms.” When 400,000 people attended the victims’ funeral, this marked what Frances Perkins, President Roosevelt’s labor secretary, considered the beginning of the Labor Movement. However, legislation was slow to respond to the problems associated with child labor, health and safety due to the conflicting interests lawmakers maintained with industry.

In 1959 Wisconsin became the first state to grant bargaining rights to public employees, leading the way to major reforms addressing the need for protections of our civil servants in an increasingly post-industrial society. However, on the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Fire, Lee Adler of Cornell University drew parallels between the Triangle Shirt Waist Company’s sweatshop owners and Wisconsin’s lawmakers’ assault on collective bargaining for fair wages and sustainability. His assessment invalidates the ideological assertion that protection for workers is bad for the economy.

Here in Minnesota the same debate precipitated a government shutdown in July 2011. For example, one pharmacy in Saint Anthony Park offered free prescriptions for individuals most affected by the shutdown. Elsewhere, some small businesses throughout the Midwest responded to the backlash against worker pay, rights and benefits by offering discounts to union employees to help mitigate against the effects of cuts on living wages.

As a worker-owned cooperative commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Fire, The Hub Bike Coop would like to extend our support to all private and public union employees a 10% discount with proof of union membership*.  This will be the broadest discount base for the Hub. This incentive is in accordance to our mission statement supporting the democratic process in maintaining sustainable employment and quality of life for all workers.

Thanks,

The Hub