New Demands?
2013
Public performance, New York NY
In collaboration with Grace Exhibition and Performance Space

The performance commemorated two major historical events in labor organizing in the garment industry: the New York Shirt Waist Strike of 1909-1910, and the Triangle Factory Fire of 1911, also in New York.

The Strike won an agreement for a regulated work week and higher pay for 15,000 garment workers. In 1911, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirt Waist Company—which did not sign the agreement—killing 146 workers who were locked inside the factory by the owners. The Strike and the protest were both organized by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Over one hundred years later, exploitative working conditions continue to put garment workers' lives at risk.

My placard is adapted from textile banners carried at a funeral march and protest organized by the Union in the wake of the fire.

For the performance, I walked along a route connecting four historical sites where the events took place.

The historical sites are:
1. The former national headquarters of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (11 Waverly Place);
2. The Great Hall of Cooper Union, where workers and the Union voted to strike in 1909;
3. The former Arlington Hall, where a fundraiser in support of the strikers was held in 1910 (19-23 St Mark's Place);
4. The site of the Triangle Factory Fire, at the Triangle Shirt Waist Company (23–29 Washington Place).

Photo by Amber Lee