Workers' Rights a Century After the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: Why Labor Is Refighting the Same Battles - DailyFinance Public unions are not private unions. The issues with which labor -- real labor, not bureaucrats -- had to deal at the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire were and remain very different from those with which members of public unions deal. So this article is just comparing fish with bicycles, and crying "Unfair!" when fish are treated differently than bicycles.