Sweltering summer heat might have been more bearable for outdoor workers in Miami-Dade County under a proposal that suggested mandated breaks in the shade on the hottest days – but Florida said no.

The county’s proposal to establish heat rules for workers has been preempted by a new law: Florida has joined Texas in banning such local rules for outdoor workers. Meanwhile, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington have passed laws giving more protections to construction workers who work in extreme heat.

Florida’s new law has frustrated and angered some experts and advocates for construction workers and farmworkers. As summers get hotter over the years, outdoor workers will need more protections, not fewer, said Luigi Guadarrama, political director of Sierra Club Florida said.

The law will primarily affect low-income workers of color, Guadarrama said: “Currently, the state legislature has no interest in protecting workers."

Other advocates also say more protections for outdoor workers are needed.

  • @LordCrom
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    327 months ago

    Because most outdoor laborers are immigrants or illegal immigrants. Making that job more difficult is a oloy to get them to leave the state. Half of Miami doesn’t even speak English, half of my family doesn’t either… But DeSantis just sees us all as “brown” and wants to show he’s strong on immigration by forcing them to stop working and go elsewhere.

    This goes for farm hands, other manual laborers too.

    It’s just cruel when you come down to It.

    • @Thrashy
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      7 months ago

      The South being The South yet again. Certain folks just can’t achieve orgasm unless they first work a brown person to death and reap economic gain from it.

    • @just_change_it
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      77 months ago

      I can pretty much guarantee illegals don’t get worker protections so the law saying one thing or another really doesn’t matter.

      Businesses can ignore most laws by default until someone sues them. This just removes the lawsuit for this specific thing. Work or die is the law.