Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
By: EFE
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the largest and oldest Latino group in the country, criticized this Tuesday a Law enacted by Texas Governor Greg Abbot that eliminates break requirements for construction workers to drink water on hot days.
He stressed that it is “a potential death threat to Latino and Texan workers”especially as the state faces a “dangerous” heat wave, according to weather authorities.
LULAC joined the AFL-CIO union center and other unions in repudiating the legislation.
“Abbott and his allies will go down in history as the heartless politicians who turned Texas, once again, into a patron and plantation system,” said Domingo Garcia, LULAC National President.
“They will be stained with the same degree of criminal intent if workers die from heat stroke or heat,” he added. “Denying water breaks to a construction worker working in temperatures above 40 degrees is shameful and criminal.”
When summer just begins Texas has been affected by a prolonged wave of excessive heat that impacts more than 40 million peoplewith temperatures above 49 degrees Celsius (120 Fahrenheit).
“Despite Texas has the highest rate of heat-related work fatalities, Republican Governor Abbott signed a bill that eliminates state ordinances that require construction workers to take breaks of at least 10 minutes every four hours to drink water and cool off,” lamented the organization Climate Power.
Forecasters have warned that the Texas heat index, which takes temperature and humidity into account, is between 41 and 42 degrees Celsius (105 to 107 Fahrenheit) from 11 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m. the afternoon.
“LULAC urges all workers to take precautions to protect themselves from the heat in Texas while working outdoors“said Robert Téllez, director of the organization in that state.
He recommended that the workers always carry water and refresh themselves periodically, and that they wear clothes that protect them from the oppressive sun.
“It is essential that safety is given priority and protection from the harmful consequences of working in extreme heat conditions,” he said.
Keep reading:
• One dead and more than 20 injured after the passage of a tornado through Mississippi
• Five deaths and more than 640,000 people without electricity after storms passed through the southern United States.
• Tornado in South Texas leaves 1 dead and 10 injured