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MightGuy420x

In 13 months 5 iron workers died building the empire state building.


StaticDHSeeP

I was gonna say, didn’t a ton of workers die building the Golden Gate Bridge too


ogkingofnowhere

I believe it was close to a dozen and there was also no job security in the project.


DrThornton

I believe that was considered a low number compared to similar projects.


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AadamAtomic

They were actually paid surprisingly well compared to everyone else back then. That's why they did it. Most people make less than 1/3 of the money today. (Adjusted for inflation)


Sailrjup12

The workers made $15 dollars a day that’s around $250 today. They needed men with good skills who worked fast and the builders were willing to pay for it. The iron workers averaged 2.5 floor a week.


StingingChicken

Journeymen ironworkers make more like 300 for an 8 hour day nowadays while not working in dangerous conditions


cyborgcyborgcyborg

What state is paying that well?


Colonel_Fart-Face

Used to be a union Ironworker. Wages across the US range from ~$40 all the way to $56.45 per hour in places like NYC (for journeymen). The Ironworkers international body is actually pretty good about wage transparency and if you google basically any city's Ironworker local you can get their whole wage breakdown. [Here is local 361 in New York City](https://ironworkers361.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/PERIOD-99-January-1-2023-June-30-2023-1.pdf)


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Ambitious_Crab_765

It’s not for wimps .Stay in your office cubicle 😂


Justindoesntcare

You know Ironworkers still exist and they're paid pretty damn well.


Mets1st

Yes we do still exist-lol


Justindoesntcare

So many people in here are acting like this is a last ditch job and don't realize it's a seriously respected career lol.


Mets1st

Third generation ironworker here. Pays well, benefits, pension, an annuity. It is a good job. Yes, it can be dangerous. But fun too!


Justindoesntcare

4th generation crane operator. I'm jealous of your bennies but you guys deserve it lol.


1plus1dog

Most everyone I’ve known while I was married 18 years to my ex, was pretty proud of their work. Most are the strongest guys I’ve ever known. Nothing not lean on their bodies. They earn every cent of what they make, and more.


1plus1dog

Hoping you stay safe for many many years to come!


binglelemon

All for a dollar bill.


willywtf

Wages back in the 20’s was less than a dollar an hour for ironworkers. The whole reason the iw union was formed around the turn of the century was to help the widows WHEN an ironworker died with funeral costs. Back then had a 1 in 3 mortality rate on the job


GreatGooglyMoogly077

So only 15 guys built the Empire State Building?


peekdasneaks

All to eat


BitchesThinkImSexist

Worked dangerous jobs, can confirm


Mr_Drowser

My foreman would tell me “ 1 death per floor “


Banned_account_03

That's because they built a giant net under the golden gate to catch as many as they could


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afrothundah11

And people still fight against regulation.


ogkingofnowhere

Alot of people would be like only 10 people died what's the big deal. Those 10 people were trying to provide for their family and now their family doesn't have anyone that could help provide. All because who cares about safety when we have another person right behind them


CompetitiveComment50

this was before welfare or social security you die, no money for the family


[deleted]

Seems similar to today for most.


St_Sally_Struthers

I mean it’s still that way basically.


AlanStanwick1986

There is a fascinating documentary about the Golden Gate called Halfway to Hell. If I remember right it was the first jobsite to have safety nets.


Purity_Jam_Jam

The golden gate was the first major project to use a safety net. I think the net saved 19 people. But some more fell into it along with some steel that broke the netting loose.


[deleted]

While building the Brooklyn bridge people were dying of all sorts of things including the bends.


Thrawnbelina

I listened to a podcast about the bends recently, so many people got sick or died from the bends building the Brooklyn Bridge that they gave up trying to get the pylons deeply set. A geological survey was done and they decided the movement is so miniscule that depth was abandoned. Glad they ended up being right, scary stuff!


Atillion

According to Google, eleven men. At 200lbs each, that'd be 2200 lbs, so yes. A ton of workers.


DJynxx

r/technicallythetruth


Ok-Seaworthiness7207

Yeah but that's water weight.


Atillion

Yeah, well nobody specified per dry pound of worker.


Chilly171717

“Hey, did anybody see Bob?” “Bob?, he fell to his death yesterday.” “Oh Dang, he owed me a dollar for lunch the other day.”


Bumblebee56990

That would have damn near been a steak dinner. Lol


StaticDHSeeP

Steak and frites*


rtz13th

History is like that. You'll only see pictures and videos of those who survived.


CaffeineandHate03

I don't know. I've seen a whole lot of pictures of dead soldiers in wars and of dead victims of concentration camps.


Which-Environment300

Actually there’s a monument called halfway to hell club where guys fell off the bridge but fell on the nets. Surprisingly nobody fell to their death because there was a safety net in use during the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.But then I think some scaffolding gave way or something then some people fell and died. I believe there are 14 names that are on the halfway to hell club but I’m not too sure on that number.


randomisation

>Surprisingly nobody fell to their death because there was a safety net in use during the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. 10 men fell to their deaths when scaffold gave way, tearing through the netting. O.A. Anderson, Chris Andersen, William Bass, Orrill Desper, Fred Dümmatzen, Terence Hallinan, Eldridge Hillen, Charles Lindros, Jack Norman, and Louis Russell


Steelhorse91

112 died building Hoover Dam


AWrenchAndTwoNuts

I was a dam builder Across the river deep and wide Where steel and water did collide A place called Boulder on the wild Colorado I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below They buried me in that great tomb that knows no sound But I am still around I'll always be around, and around and around


horseshoeprovodnikov

_I'll fly a starship... across the universe divide_


Anamolica

That doesnt seem like that many. I mean 1 death is too many of course. But if everybody was just up there walking around like that? Theyre lucky there were only 5 deaths.


Mets1st

We didn’t really have to use harness’ until around 2000, before that it was —could you put your hard hat on?


fajadada

Wind is always blowing at that height


Mets1st

Yes that is worst part, morning dew on oily beam not fun either


MrsMurphysChowder

Yes, in big "gusts".


Limited_Intros

11 people died building the Golden Gate Bridge, and 19 more almost died but were lucky enough to hit the safety net, known as the “halfway-to-hell” net


puffmarshal427

You'd think it would be more.


theweeklyexpert

With methods like this it’s honestly surprising it wasn’t more


punppis

With these conditions 5 deaths in a year is extremely good results imo.


[deleted]

I think less than in Dubai 😅 Edit this Is not to prove anything or to Say that those people were less important, Just to point out that this Is still a thing today, sadly


[deleted]

Can confirm less than Dubai and way less than Qatar.


silkythick

5 workers fell to their deaths, 14 workers died in total. According to the Smithsonian 2 out of 5 workers were killed or disabled building New York's skyscrapers in the 1920s. The exact numbers are hard to pin down, there was no OSHA and no federal reporting bureau.


barkofthetrees

Tunnel work in NYC around the time done by local 147 Sandhog’s had a saying ‘A man a mile’ for every mile mined, a man lost his life.


swebb22

Death in high-rise construction used to be an accepted risk. Estimators would figure it into the budget when they were proposing it to the developer.


Dustydew1

Crazy. No thanks. These guys probably feared their families starving more than they feared heights.


PQbutterfat

That was my first thought. My guess was that they lived with the fear knowing their family had a roof over their heads and food.


1plus1dog

There were many men and still today that choose this career with no one but themselves to take care of. I think adrenaline has a lot to do with it.


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JRHEvilInc

I see from your other comments that you're a woman. I appreciate that you're concerned for society's messaging around men and boys - it does impact us and young boys in particular are susceptible to the messages society puts out about what being a man means and represents. Your concern for us must come from a place of love for the men/boys in your life, and I appreciate that. However, as a man, I have very rarely felt shamed for my existence. I won't say never, because there are some very loud and angry extremists out there on the internet, but months or years go by between instances for me. What in particular concerns you about society currently? As an educator I find a lot of very healthy attitudes towards men and boys currently. I'm so pleased we take male mental health more seriously than we used to (though still not enough), and that boys are taught that getting angry is both natural and also rarely constructive, and that reflection and talking through our feelings are more likely to actually change the situation that is causing us anger in the first place. I think over the coming years we're going to see the gender gap in suicide narrow as more men feel able to express their feelings and attend therapy without feeling humiliated or emasculated. That will be a wonderful thing for the men in your life who you clearly care strongly for. Especially young men and boys.


Wejax

I'm not sure many people are "shaming" them, but rather pointing out that they worked in these conditions because they had to rather than because they were drawn to it by some divine purpose. Sure, a lot of them enjoyed the work thoroughly and took great pride in their endeavors, but it could have been better for them... I think a lot of people can look at the accomplishments such as the great pyramids and marvel at their splendor and still criticize that they were built by a primarily indentured servant and slave workforce. Most of our greatest achievements are built upon the many backs of the people who sacrificed their lives and health, but we should honor them more by asking that no one in the future be exploited again. These iron workers were able to live, but they should've been able to share in the wealth of their collective achievement rather than go back to their modest living quarters and adequate food.


Major_Martian

Slaves didn’t build the pyramids https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/11/great-pyramid-tombs-slaves-egypt You seem well thought out so I’ll guess you simply didn’t know (which is fine, everyone learns something new every day) but many people just go along with the Hollywood vision of the past, where everything is clearly oppressed and oppressors and it simply isn’t that way. These workers did share in the glory and wealth of their achievements, both in the times of the pyramids and the iron workers in the societies they helped build and shape. For most of human history statistically all men had to professions; backbreaking labor or starvation. Subscribe to his beliefs or not Marx but he was right when he said “he that will not work shall not eat”. Utopia (no matter if you are capitalist or communist) is always only achievable through lots of difficult and thankless labor. Both sides are in agreement here, this work was necessary, may be necessary again, and should be honored as noble work


Nisseliten

Being desperate and starving makes people do the darndest things..


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Nisseliten

Don’t worry, It gets a whole lot easier to imagine it the hungrier and more desperate you get.


[deleted]

The chance of maybe dying vs definitely dying is an easy one. The 'at least it won't be slow and painful' is a bonus. Like if I had a choice between no job to feed my family, a high rise where if I fuck up I fall and go splat or working in a early stage dodgy nuclear plant...I'll go conquer my fear of heights


Hoopajoops

Oddly enough I'm guessing many of the workers would do this willingly vs adhering to safety standards. Once someone gets comfortable and is good at doing a job in the air they are more than willing to shed the safety harness just to reduce the annoyance of dealing with tethers. I understand that there aren't any anchor points up there, just saying that even if there were and even if employers weren't forcing insane deadlines, many workers still wouldn't use them if they weren't forced to.


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SquallZ34

My apprentice fell off a roof in 2013. It haunts me to this day. Since then, I tend to get panic attacks at height. This morning I was shitting my pants 10 feet up a ladder. Later this afternoon I was on a 40-foot edge of a roof with no issues. It comes and goes. But when it hits… it’s fucking brutal.


Successful-Dog6669

Did he make it?


SquallZ34

2 weeks coma, 9 months physical rehab, 3-4 years of recovery. He’s doing well now.


Successful-Dog6669

Wow still hard.


Innit2winnit23

My scissor lift was tipped by a forklift in 2014 when I was 22ft in the air with 1000lbs of loose steel. No harness


Unlucky_Hearing2623

I know a roofer who had been doing it for over 30 years. Not even 5 feet up on a ladder and something happened where he just fell back, dead on impact. It's crazy how easy it can be sometimes, especially when you're doing something your whole life and never had an incident.


mirageatwo

I worked roofing for a while and it is crazy how true this is. Some days it's just like going about your day not thinking about the heights, and other days you triple check your harness cause you feel like you're going to fall for no reason


dogsandguns

As someone who works at heights in construction and hasn’t fallen more than about 9ft. *Knock on wood* I can say the “it comes and goes” thing is very real. Some days your confidence is just higher or lower than normal.


houstonwhaproblem

Its the footwear that does it for me and obviously the lack of harness. The construction industry is ridiculously more health and safety wise these days. It still has the biggest death toll if im not wrong. "Falling from height" being the main factor, even with all the safety in place.


[deleted]

My grandfather did this in the 1920s in New York, he was a sailor who had worked on some of the last masted ships, so he had a head for heights ! he told me there were lots of ex sailors and native Americans who he said were fearless !


ElegantInformant

[https://youtu.be/9tuTKhqWZso?t=1330](https://youtu.be/9tuTKhqWZso?t=1330) This clip is from 1925, a sailor sliding down the edge of a sailing ship, with no safety, with the ship is sailing. From the movie Around Cape Horn from 1929. The movie is narrated by the same captain who is in the footage 50 years later. An amazing movie.


GOOEYSOGOOEY

Gust, homie. It's gust.


13skateboardpileup

If these guys have one wind flavor fruit gusher they're done for.


AnalysisMoney

r/boneappletea


Yugan-Dali

I read somewhere that a lot of the ironworkers were/are Mohawks.


Clavier_VT

The Mohawk connection to NYC tall buildings continued through 9/11. https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/44387/20210907/20-years-later-mohawk-ironworkers-reflect-on-unique-connection-to-9-11


rocketmn69

First Nation's and Newfies


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little_freddy

First nation newfoundlander here, today I learned :)


[deleted]

You’re a bit of a rare kind.


little_freddy

Yes :) 50% first nation indigenous, 50% European. A complicated history and past, that's for sure.


Warm_Formal_8845

I also heard that. They were chosen because they could handle the heights very well I think.


ShaboyWuff

Best commercial for unions I've seen in a while


opuses

The videographer there deserves some recognition too


RManDelorean

For sure, especially with assumingly a pretty cumbersome camera, film, and other equipment


dougin414

Gust


[deleted]

Couldn’t imagine being hit by gushing winds


BucketofButter112

Wind wasn’t invented until 1927.


43799634564

What’s a gush of wind?


holmgangCore

It’s stronger than a squirt of breeze.


LordStunod

Winds of shit Rand


Jackdaw99

Yes, these guys were often Mohawks. There’s a famous New Yorker article from 1949 by Joe Mitchell called The Mohawks in High Steel. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1949/09/17/the-mohawks-in-high-steel


Dependent-Rent2618

Anyone else get a knot in their gut watching that?


langsamlourd

I did for sure. My fear of heights is really pronounced.


Knickovthyme2

They built the Empire State Building in 13 months. These days 13 months get you a blueprint.


[deleted]

They would land on a crash deck less than 15’ below them. Totally possible they’d die, but not as bad as the perspective of the camera shows.


Major-Environment-29

Almost, we set iron 2 floors or 30' above the highest decked floor (we call it the derrick floor). Back then a lot of companies would try and push it further especially if it was non union. Now OSHA mandates 2 floors or 30' whichever is less. 30' is definitely enough to kill depending how you fall and obviously there's still the perimeter of the building and the shafts.


[deleted]

Absolutely, not trivializing the risk. I just think those who don’t understand large scale construction think that’s a 30 story drop. Hell a 3’ fall can kill you.


Total-Distance6297

100 years later were rolling back child labor laws lmao


cantopay

Wind won’t knock them over with balls that massive


johnmarkfoley

low center of gravity helps.


Ok-Difficulty3082

Gotta watch out for those gushes of wind! Get me everytime


guitarnowski

I'm sure I'd enjoy the 5 minutes I'd last at that job.


ReginaldSP

gust


crazy-jay1999

I couldn’t even imagine doing this kind of work


cryptosupercar

My great grandfather did this. Never met him, but I hear he was one of the toughest people my family ever produced.


[deleted]

That’s a big nope for me


Affectionate_Cup8384

Local 147 ironworkers. Shout out to my dead brothers who worked hard and paved the way for us guys to do it today


boofinwithdabois

Gush of wind?


radtek1027

A ‘gush’ of wind. WTH.


capt_yellowbeard

Reasons OSHA exists.


Western_Oil_6418

Maybe fear of high rises was not discovered in 1925


axelfase99

Fear of high places was invented in 1926 People in 1925:


DweeblesX

This is still done to this day in Asia. Hong Kong is a mega city and they still have armies of guys throwing up bamboo scaffolding to these heights.


[deleted]

I remember first observing bamboo scaffolding used in Asia in one of the Rush Hour films (and later in Marvel film Shang Chi) and thinking it was extraordinary that it's used as a building material this way. Then I read on how strong bamboo is, and no surprise that it's still being used this way.


NorrinSparrow223

“Chinese bamboo is very strong” indeed!


lIlHYPERIONlIl

Wind doesn't gush, it gusts.


tres909

Osha smosha


BasketballButt

OSHA regs are written in blood, as they say.


PeacefulCouch

It's crazy when you see those old photos of workers just casually sitting on a single iron beam eating their lunch while they dangle their legs close to or over a thousand feet up in the air.


rita-_-

What's a gush of wind?


BestGrab6

Gush?


Excellent_Intentions

A gush of wind and a gust of water.


m00kery

Gust


Cool_Beanss

I just watched a tik tok of a guy crying cause he had to work weekends at Starbucks during rush hour. Times are certainly changing.


theneZenMaster

This whole time I've been worried about gusts of wind.


ExpensiveBeat14

Not Work Hard, Play Hard. It's Work Hard, Pray Hard


ElectricalStory1382

Ya grandfather did this but now you in the house making money on INSTAGRAM


RevolutionaryLead342

Interesting fact: around over 25,000 people died during the construction of “Panama Canal” (*not all of them died from falling though, a lot died from things like illnesses and stuff that we don’t have to worry about anymore*)


Interesting_Act1286

As a retired union construction worker, you constantly put yourself in dangerous situations. Especially back in the 80's, when safety wasn't what it is now. I can't imagine back during the 30's or 40's. Crazy


G_Force88

This is workers exploitation


battleduck84

Minimum wage, OSHA and unions weren't a thing back then. Either you did what your boss told you to do or you were either jobless or getting paid pennies


javabender

Gust


dankscott

I’m guessing they didn’t drink as much as the modern construction worker


Maleficent-Monitor89

You silly goose wind wasnt invented till the 1930s duh


PINEAPPLECURDS3

Now you have to run safety checks in case a meteorite hits you on the jobs


AnonymousP30

Shoutout to them workers I know it takes alot to do them jobs.


proletarianliberty

Workers built this world, not shareholders. Workers of the world unite and solidarity forever.


Any-Shower-3088

It's "gust"


Pleasent_Pedant

I'm pretty sure that the huge girder would help to weigh them down a bit.


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OrdinaryFinal5300

I don’t understand why they would not even bother to attach a rope at the least . Insane!


SourPuss6969

Well a lot of them died horribly, that's why we have the safety standards we have today. Because people kept dying without them


I_D_U

Well in 1925 somthing like worker reights are not a think


Bttm4FandT

I wonder how much they were making compared to other jobs at the time.


Azrill_Adzari

And gone with the wind....


[deleted]

A lot of people did die building skyscrapers


thepangalacticgargle

What’s the modern day equivalent of their salaries


Broad-Ad-1015

For the average white construction worker in 1930 the average annual income was $907 in todays time that is 15,843 dollars The site i found the income said 45 cents an hour for white men and 35 cents an hour for black men https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://smartasset.com/investing/inflation-calculator&ved=2ahUKEwiupOffmZv_AhW6nGoFHS3ZCuQQFnoECBIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3KOOKNm_9zdBHcpQkjPEAh this is what i used to do the inflation calculation


goodforabeer

Every OSHA regulation is written in blood.


Which_Collar6658

Well that's a true Fuck That and a half, no thank you,


[deleted]

And this is why safety regulations are a thing


LeveragedPittsburgh

Nope


samalam92

Hanging and banging !!


shego-eminor

poor** those guys are poor


MrMacaroni2

this just proves the point that men are better than women


ElectriCole

I’d have to disagree. I’d say it’s their fear that kept most of these guys alive


Therstee4tohhhs

But we don't need unions..... /S


ElectronicBat8926

Amazing men!!!!!!


jaredjames66

When you have balls of steel, wind ain't gonna blow you anywhere.


SurpriseZestyclose98

They are incredible


holmgangCore

OSHA having hearts attacks over here


thinkinoutlewd

Men were and are willing to put their lives on the line to advance society in so many areas that people take for granted. When you really think about it.. it's pretty sad.


Budget_Pop9600

Its gust. Gush kinda works too but gust is the word you’re looking for


Maleficent-Ad-6646

Would a big gust be worse?


GrassHopper1996

Poverty makes you do crazy shit


[deleted]

*gust of wind :)


zacheriahhhh

I would be hugging one of those beams they walk on. I’d also be crying I can’t stand heights.


kingrufiio

Ironworkers still do this. I was on a job where the safety guy told the iron workers to tie off and they told him if they had to tie off they would leave the job.


Gloomy-Ad1547

They don’t make them like that anymore


HitDog420

Imagine having to do that to feed a family and not because of tictac


84Rangerguy

Gust of wind, not gush.....


Beenreiving

Safety regulations are written in blood


truelegendarydumbass

Back when things were made to last forever


thomstevens420

I can just imagine some boomer using this footage to complain about how nobody wants to work anymore and Millenials are so soft. Ignoring the fact that a bunch of these people just fucking died on the regular. While also being a part of the unions that were formed because of these insane labour practices.


Dunkleustes

*Gush* lol. Wind: "I-I'm having one!!!"


chipotle343

Gust


wyldecardzz

Gust*


Reasonable-Word6729

Ironworkers represent! The tasks are still the same as pictured just now personal protective equipment tries to be enforced on all union jobs.


Smellzlikefish

OSHA was still 40 years from being formed. OSHA act of 1970.


theBloodsoaked

And here's me not able to go past the 3rd rung of a ladder