Across the country, people are skipping meals and falling behind on housing payments while layoffs, automation, and diminishing labor protections deepen insecurity. The message many workers hear is simple: You are replaceable.
Before joining National COSH earlier this year, COSHCON was something I had only heard about from afar. Working as a consultant in the NYC labor movement, I knew it was a respected, bilingual gathering that brought together workers, organizers, and health and safety leaders, but it was still just a concept to me, something other people experienced.
Workers at a Panda Express in Downtown Phoenix have walked off the job, alleging unsafe heat conditions inside the restaurant and calling on state regulators to investigate. The Panda Express is staffed by Aramark and is part of the Arizona State University Dining Hall.
“It is suffocating”, said Vanessa Martinez, one of the Aramark workers at ASU the complaint was filed on behalf of. “I dread going into work most days. I have asthma flare-ups, and they get worse while I’m cooking. I’ve broken out in hives, and I was hospitalized for dehydration; the heat is just unbearable.”
Arizona’s first triple-digit temperatures of the year arrived last week, and Yuma briefly became one of the hottest places in the country. It was conditions that advocates say are especially dangerous for the people working outdoors in the region’s fields.
Jazmin Moreno with the nonprofit Agave Community Threads said volunteers organized an emergency phone bank last Thursday, placing more than 100 calls to state leaders, including the governor’s office and officials connected to the Industrial Commission of Arizona.
“We have been in a very long battle with our state legislator here and the Industrial Commission of Arizona and the governor’s office to demand an enforceable heat protection standard that is going to protect all outdoor workers and indoor workers subject to extreme heat,” Moreno said.
Arizona workers may soon get new heat protections on the job, but critics say they won’t mean much without the force of law.
A state advisory committee voted Tuesday to recommend proposed guidelines from the state’s Workplace Heat Safety Task Force. The guidelines aim to provide workers with access to cool water, shade, and rest. Employers would also put in place heat-illness prevention plans. A separate group called the Arizona Heat Standards Coalition has been pushing for enforceable rules. Tuesday’s vote left them frustrated.
Arizona may not get formal regulations to protect workers from extreme heat on the job anytime soon. On Tuesday, the second step in a three-part process for establishing a new heat safety standard fell short of what many labor rights groups were hoping for.
An advisory committee to the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health on Tuesday voted to recommend the Industrial Commission of Arizona consider new workplace heat safety guidelines. But the committee did not specify how Arizona employers should be held accountable for following those guidelines.
