Every worker deserves a safe workplace, especially while working in heat.

Across the country, unions are taking action to protect workers by negotiating for stronger contract protections, fighting for heat safety standards, training workers to recognize signs of heat illness, and holding employers accountable when they fail to protect us.

Here are a few of the ways in which unions are protecting workers: 

Collective bargaining: Union contracts can secure protections that go beyond minimum requirements, including:

• Worker participation in developing and reviewing heat safety plans.
• Paid cool-down and rest breaks.
• Access to air-conditioned break areas or cooling stations with cool drinking water.
• Heat acclimatization procedures for both new and returning workers.
• Emergency response procedures for heat illness.
• The right to stop unsafe work during dangerous, extreme heat conditions.

Fighting for strong heat standards: The AFL-CIO and our affiliated unions have been instrumental in pushing for stronger workplace heat protections at the federal, state and local levels by:

• Pushing back against attempts to weaken a federal OSHA heat standard.
• Testifying during government hearings.
• Supporting the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury, and Fatality Prevention Act (H.R. 4443, S. 2298).
• Advocating for comprehensive state heat standards.
• Fighting to strengthen enforcement and employer accountability.

Training workers and safety representatives: Unions educate workers before heat becomes an emergency by providing:

• Heat illness prevention training.
• Toolbox talks.
• Steward and safety committee training.
• Multilingual educational materials.
• Resources on workers’ rights and employer responsibilities.

Building worker power: Workers know their jobs best. Unions empower workers to identify hazards and win safer conditions by:

• Organizing for employers to fix and prevent workplace hazards.
• Participating on joint labor-management safety committees.
• Reporting unsafe working conditions.
• Filing OSHA complaints.
• Speaking up when co-workers begin experiencing heat illness.

It’s Better in a Union

Organizing a union in your workplace is about getting more rights and more power. Thousands of working people—all across the country and in all kinds of jobs—organize unions every year because unions are the best way to secure the things you care about.

Learn more about forming a union.