New Jersey: CWA Joins the Fight to Improve Heat-Related Workplace Safety

With summer fast approaching, the time is now to prepare for hotter weather and conditions that many of our members will be enduring, and make sure workers have stronger protections on the job as temperatures rise.

On May 16th, CWA joined Make the Road NJ and other labor and community groups at the State House in Trenton to advocate for legislation that would require New Jersey employers to offer additional protections for workers who face extreme heat (set at a heat index of 90 degrees for outdoor workers and 82-87 degrees for indoor workers depending on the gear or equipment used), including:

• Providing cold water
• Providing paid rest breaks with access to shade or climate-controlled spaces
• Limiting the amount of time employees are exposed to extreme heat during the day
• Providing emergency response for any employees suffering from a heat illness

Employers would also be required to take additional measures on days that the National Weather Service has declared a heat wave, including:

• Postponing noncritical work until after the heat wave ends
• Increasing the number of workers, to decrease the total heat exposure for individuals
• Increasing the number of rest breaks each day

CWA District 1 Area Director Fran Ehret testified at the Assembly Labor Committee hearing on May 16th, saying that “for the 70,000 workers we represent, working both indoors and outdoors, we know that a heat standard is essential to their safety. This legislation is long overdue.”

The bill was passed out of the Labor Committee on May 16th and will now go to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.