As of July 8, 2024, the National Weather Service had issued heat warnings for nearly all of the east and west coasts of the continental United States.  As many as 36 million people live in areas characterized as “extreme risk,” when the heat index exceeds 105 degrees Fahrenheit.  Areas of Northern California exceeded 119 degrees over the weekend. 

For those who work outside, or in warehouses, factories or kitchens that lack air conditioning, such temperatures pose serious health and safety risks.  Yet most workplaces lack safeguards to protect workers exposed to extreme heat conditions.  Some unions are spearheading efforts to get heat exposure standards included in their collective bargaining agreements. 

Kai Ortiz works for Homegrown, a wholesale kitchen in Seattle, and is a member of the union UNITED 8.  Keith Brower Brown is a labor-climate organizer and written about air temperature issues in the workplace for Labor Notes. Kai and Keith called in to the Monday Buzz to tell listeners about the problem.

Photo: Maris Zivarts, Labor Notes website

Web posting by Nicholas Wootton

The post Keith Brower Brown Updates Monday Buzz on Heat as Labor Safety Issue appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.