The Republican Plot to Roast Outdoor Workers. Is it too much to ask growers and construction firms to furnish water and shade on hot days? Apparently so—in Florida and Texas.
https://newrepublic.com/article/180748/republican-heat-labor-outdoor-workers
36 comments
To hear Florida Republicans tell it, you can’t run a successful business without disregarding the physical safety of your workers.
Heat related deaths are nearly impossible to quantify because it’s almost never listed as a cause of death.
Laws passed by a bunch of sneering elites who have never done a hard day’s work in their life.
Lots of agriculture jobs out there. Workers could end up going to other states where they are guaranteed better conditions leaving Florida and Texas’ produce to rot away before even getting harvested.
The Republican assumption that Big Ag shouldn’t need to compete for field workers is pure fantasy. They will eventually all end up in California.
Can we just turn off the A/C at the capital building. They obviously don’t care and we can save taxpayers money
Republicans don’t see laborers as people. That’s why it’s so easy for them to not just disregard their safety, but openly dismiss it as valuable or important.
*No, the real consideration should be the business owners. After all, they’re actual people*, to paraphrase Republicans.
They care far more about fetuses than farm workers or construction laborers.
I just don’t get why this is a Republican fixation. Did you know that 2/3 of prisons here in Texas have no air conditioning? In Texas. Every summer, there’s a sharp increase in “heart attacks” in our prisons. Weird how that always corresponds to heat waves.
If you’re intentionally cruel to your employees, don’t be surprised when they leave you in the lurch. No employees = no harvest = no sales = no farm.
Blue states should not subsidize weaponized cruelty.
People are going to die.
Republicans: we hate blue collar workers and want them to suffer but also want them to vote for us and donate their money to Trump’s legal bills. Also we hate gay people.
Blue collar Conservative voters: I hate gay people too. Good enough for me. Maga.
First they drive out immigrants who want to work in agriculture (and the landowner/farmers didn’t appreciate that, but probably still vote Republican), and NOW they legislate that it’s not legal for local regions to require shade/water for workers outdoors. It’s almost like Florida government is TRYING to get rid of it’s agriculture and public service workers, the rest of us can just starve…
In MAGAland not only do the children yearn for the mines, but the adults yearn for the heat stroke.
I’m sure this will be very helpful to Trump’s reelection campaign.
One would hope these anti-worker laws would push citizens to vote out the Republican politicians that are ruining their lives, but I highly doubt that will happen
In the good ol’ days, when America was Great Again, the most cost-effective way of taking care of slaves was to work them to death with no concern for their well-being and replace them with a new one as needed.
Texas and Florida should just be separate countries , in fact I think all Red states should be.
They are acting like they won the Civil War.
it’s just part of the conservative religion. Rich people are morally superior so they deserve rewards. the poor are morally inferior, so they deserve to be punished.
Texas is reliant on immigrant laborers, Abbot hates them and he want’s them to suffer because no matter how powerful or how much wealth he accrues. He’ll never understand what it’s like to be a decent human being. He was always a twisted, pathetic little fuck.
The cruelty is the point.
What’s insane is that blue collar laborers will happily go and vote (R) in the election, it makes no sense to me. Like is oppressing women and immigrants and LGBTQ+ people really worth dropping dead in the ever-increasing heat of summer?
While at the same time complaining that nobody wants to work anymore.
I really don’t get the point here. Awesome. Now it’s legal to kill your workers. “Nobody wants to work anymore.” Nobody wants to pointlessly suffer and die for some old fuck who won’t even give you a drink of water
What is the point of their laws? Like how are they even selling this as a positive? What can they spin to not look like ghouls?
They want to pretend they are doing something to “punish” immigrants like their base wants, while not going after the companies who keep hiring the undocumented labor.
Staying hydrated is woke
The problems arise when the workers start thinking they *deserve* these things… water, shade, breaks, an entire hour for lunch, a predictable schedule, *health insurance*, a living wage… I mean, where does it stop? You gotta keep these people in their place, or the next thing you know, there’s a taco truck on every corner.
/s…
Or is it?
They lack any human feelings and empathy. Honestly I believe this is being done because they believe that most people that work outside are either minorities, immigrants that work in fields and in construction. This is their payback.
Illegal in any civilised country
The anti Christian right wing acts again.
This isn’t surprising considering these are the very same group of people who are against healthcare and free school meals. If it doesn’t involve forced Christianity or oppression of women then the Republicans don’t give a damn.
Florida and Texas…two states that rely HEAVILY on immigrant labor, often undocumented. It often seems like both states are competing with each other to see who can be worst.
OSHA actually does require employers to provide drinking water.
If they were serious about stopping illegal immigration they’d go after the companies that hire and employ them. Instead they focus law enforcement on the people looking for a better life and then allow their emoloyers to treat them horribly.
As a former owner of a commercial roofing company in Florida I wouldn’t even imagine not supplying water to my crews at NIGHT no less the daytime.
This is a BS law to remove liability from business owners and farms who mess up and forget to supply their workers with basic needs and it’s WRONG! Living creatures need water. Productivity, no less health concerns, would suffer without basic needs.
Fuck this shit, did this for almost 13 yrs in WV and the owner was always like take water break but at the same time we need work finished asap! Like so I do worry about dying or making you money? Needless to say, I quit that shit and have moved on.
In a sane world, none of the elected officials who had any part in creating these laws would ever again find public-sector employment.