WASHINGTON, D.C. (KERO) — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla joined Representative Judy Chu, the National Resource Defense Council, union representatives, and workers in hosting a press conference to advocate for federal workplace heat stress protections.
The group says rising temperatures in California and across the country are becoming dangerous for workers.
"As we speak, there’s more than 100 million Americans across 20 states that are under a heat advisory that are facing dangerously high temperatures today. So this is not a far off threat. We are living it now. And we are living it more each day. And yet our country has never passed a federal standard to protect workers from these conditions.
Lawmakers, workers, and union and environmental leaders gave first-hand accounts of working in hot conditions and called for swift legislative action to speed up the implementation of the first Federal Heat Stress Standards in the workplace.