00:00 As extreme heat lingers in parts of the country, farmworkers are facing hazardous working conditions.
00:07 This is really physically demanding work, even in the best of circumstances.
00:11 When you add in extremely high temperatures, lack of water, shade and brakes, that is a formula for tragedy.
00:18 According to a new study released by the Environmental Defense Fund,
00:22 farmworkers are working an average of 21 days per summer in dangerous heat.
00:28 But when you look at the south and at the west of the country, the numbers go much higher.
00:33 In Florida, it can be over 100 days of the year, so that's basically every day during the summer.
00:40 McLellan says farmworkers are also 20 times more likely to die from heat-related illnesses than workers in other industries.
00:48 The way that they're paid in many cases encourages them to work harder and longer.
00:53 If they're paid based on the amount of fruit or vegetables that they pick, then that's really an incentive to push themselves.
01:01 Only five states have permanent rules to protect workers from heat illnesses on the job.
01:06 They include providing employees with water and rest breaks.
01:10 But the challenge with state-by-state standards is they're difficult to enforce,
01:14 and they can unfairly discriminate against workers in one state compared to another.
01:20 Labor unions like United Farmworkers are calling on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to create a federal rule,
01:27 as farmers are expected to face up to 39 days of dangerous heat on the job in the next 25 years.
01:35 The ability to talk to your boss and say, "Hey, this is actually the law, that you have to give me water, you have to give me shade, you have to give me a paid rest break."
01:42 Giving workers that ability to advocate for themselves is really what this is about.
01:48 For Ackie Weather, I'm Emmy Victor.
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