The suit of the Texan workers
An AFP journalist interviewed construction workers in Texas, where the temperature tops 40C. He says: Maynor Alvarez was sitting on a platform painting a 10-foot wall in the intense Texas heat and suddenly developed a fever.
Men work on the light rail line in hot weather in downtown Houston, Texas, U.S., July 14, 2023. Portal/Adrees Latif — © ADREES LATIF/ Portal
“I’ve had heat stroke before. And do you know what that does? Cramps in the legs and arms, headache, nausea and palpitations,” says Maynor Alvarez, a house painter of Guatemalan origin. “But when I complain to my manager who is downstairs, he tells me to keep working (…) I go downstairs because I can’t take it anymore (…) If I had stayed five more minutes I wouldn’t would not be here to tell you about it.
These days, workers and their representatives in Houston are demonstrating against a law recently passed by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that challenges the right of construction workers in cities like Dallas or Austin to take a drink break every four hours.
The law, due to come into force in September, does not ban these drinking breaks but aims to harmonize regulations at the state level on a range of issues related to labor law or agriculture, rather than leaving legislation to local governments, typically Democrats, leave on the subject.
During the Houston rally, Luz Martinez, also a construction worker, told AFP how she had to work in a 20-story building where workers had to go downstairs to drink outside. “On July 4th, a public holiday (in the United States), we renovated a school, in a closed room, without air conditioning, because there are some who don’t want to pay for electricity,” she explains, remembering “a colleague .” who felt uncomfortable. “We die. It’s not fair to deprive us of water and hydration breaks,” she adds.
Record temperatures are expected in the state this weekend, including 46C on Saturday in Corpus Christi in the south.