Battling the Big Business lobby: Inside the fight to help outdoor workers in Florida working in 100-degree heat

In this episode: Bowing to pressure from Florida’s construction and farming industries, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Legislature just passed an infamous new law protecting businesses that refuse to provide clean drinking water to employees working outside in 100-degree heat. In this episode, Jason Garcia talks to a trio of activists who have spent years fighting for heat protections for outdoor workers in Florida: Esteban Wood of the immigrant-rights group WeCount! and Jeannie Economos and Ernesto Ruiz of the Farmworker Association of Florida. The group discusses their work from Miami to Orlando to Tallahassee, what it’s like to go up against the Big Business lobby, and why this fight is NOT over.   

Show notes

Check out some of the Farmworker Association’s research on the health impacts of extreme heat

Learn more about WeCount’s Qué Calor! campaign to win heat protections for outdoor workers in South Florida

Further reading: No water, no shade: How homebuilders, farming companies and construction firms got politicians to reject heat rules for outdoor workers in Florida

Questions or comments? Send ‘em to Garcia.JasonR@gmail.com

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