It’s easy to forget just how bad things used to be — and how quickly they can return. In this episode, we take a closer look at what labor protections were built to prevent: the heat, the blades, the blood. From children on kill floors to men collapsing in the sun, this isn’t distant history — it’s a warning. Because while the language has changed, the rollback is already underway. And when memory is lost, so is leverage.

Further Reading :

• National Employment Law Project, Tracking Deregulation in the Trump and Post-Trump Era
  A detailed record of federal rollbacks to worker protections, including OSHA enforcement, wage theft accountability, and classification laws.

• Economic Policy Institute, The erosion of worker power
  Explores long-term trends behind declining union density, stagnant wages, and weakened safety standards.

• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Data and Statistics Page
  Useful for tracking inspection rates, citations, and enforcement trends by year and sector.

• ProPublica, “They Know the Heat Is Killing Workers. If Only the Government Would Listen.”
  Investigative reporting on how heat-related workplace deaths are rising — and how policy has failed to keep up.

• American Journal of Public Health, “Child Labor in the United States: Hidden in Plain Sight”
  A look at how minors are still legally employed in dangerous sectors like agriculture and meat processing.