US workers facing deadly heat embrace tactic that targets major brands’ reputations
US farm workers are adopting a 'market-based enforcement' model to secure heat protections by pressuring major corporate brands. This strategy, pioneered by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, bypasses stalled government regulation by leveraging brand reputation.
Why it matters
It provides a blueprint for labor rights advocacy in the face of climate change and legislative inaction.
Farm workers in Immokalee, Florida, in November 2023. Farm workers in Immokalee, Florida, in November 2023. Extreme heat US workers facing deadly heat embrace tactic that targets major brands’ reputations Program founded by tomato growers has some of the strongest US worker protections – and its approach is being emulated by other groups
Prefer the Guardian on Google “I t’s the kind of heat that makes you feel like you’re being dehydrated, like your skin is drying out,” said Lucas Benitez, after harvesting watermelons with his sons and wife this summer. “The heat that we had 30 years ago is not nearly the heat that we have today.”
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