Chicago, IL — “Alianza Americas stands with our member organizations and workers in Florida against this inhumane legislation. We firmly denounce the actions of the Republican-led Florida Legislature and Governor DeSantis in passing and signing HB433. We call on OSHA and Congress to enact regulations and laws at the federal level to provide real and enforceable protections for workers against the dangers of heat exposure. We reject this new attack on immigrant communities and working people throughout the state,” said Bruce Tyler, Systemic Inequities Coordinator at Alianza Americas.
With potentially hundreds of thousands of low-wage workers toiling in the summer sun and exposing themselves to heat illness and even death, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis last night signed a cruel bill preventing localities from implementing their own regulations, like a recent one in Miami-Dade that would mandate extra protections for workers in the agricultural and construction sectors, that would protect vulnerable workers and prevent unnecessary deaths.
Every year, hundreds of people fall ill or die in the US from exposure to excess natural heat, including dozens of outdoor workers. The numbers in Florida have been increasing year over year for at least the last three years. Climate change is leading to longer, hotter summers. This makes the need for stronger protections all the more necessary.
“HB433 is an extremist law that will endanger the health and lives of thousands of outdoor workers in Florida and cause preventable deaths in our communities. As summer approaches, outdoor workers all over Florida will soon be forced to work in deadly temperatures without any enforceable heat standards. For years, WeCount!’s ¡Qué Calor! campaign has led the movement to win heat protections in Florida, and we are not going anywhere. Workers’ lives are not disposable, and we will continue to organize until every worker is treated with the respect and dignity we all deserve,” said Oscar Londoño, Co-Executive Director of WeCount!, a workers’ center in South Florida that leads the ¡Qué Calor! campaign and works to organize immigrant workers and families in agriculture and construction. These organizing efforts are clearly a target of HB433 and Florida Republicans.
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Alianza Americas is the premier transnational advocacy network of Latin American migrant-led organizations working in the United States, across the Americas, and globally to create an inclusive, equitable and sustainable way of life for communities across North, Central and South America.
