New Florida law signed to prevent protection for workers from extreme heat | Hacker News Reader

New Florida law signed to prevent protection for workers from extreme heat

npr.org

29 pointsourguile16 comments

"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a law that prevents cities or counties from creating protections for workers who labor in the state's often extreme and dangerous heat."

This is psychotic and will kill people.

It's not psychotic at all if your moral calculus includes abstract superorganisms like nation states but doesn't include humans.

Of course, is having such a moral calculus psychotic?

So.... what prevented people from dying before I wonder?

Nothing. That's the problem. The articles references heat related injuries and death.

And... how many people died from it every year? What's the scale of the problem?

Heat related deaths are not uncommon. And likely undercounted[1].

It's one thing to not put in place protections. It's another to actively prevent protections from being put in place. Truly shows lack of compassion for laborers.

[1]: https://health.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2023-08-15/h...

Nothing has stopped, and nothing is stopping businesses and unions from putting their own protections in place.

The articles says "dozens" of deaths across the country per year are heat related. How many are from Florida? Seems like largely a non-issue - hundreds of people die from falling off ladders every year[1], for comparison.

But... NPR likes to sensationalize and politically charge these sorts of headlines to rile people over "Florida Bad" since it's currently a Republican Governor.

Yesterday you didn't know about this, hadn't put one second of thought into it, and didn't care about it. Today, metaphoric you is outraged by it. ie, you're being played.

[1] https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2017/03/13/ladder-s....

The entire existence of labor laws is because businesses tend to not do what is best for their workers and workers need and deserve protections.

Not all workers are in unions. And even if they are, that shouldn't mean local governments shouldn't also be able to put protections in place.

All jobs have risks. Ladders are a necessary tool for jobs. Having workers labor in extreme heat without protections to prevent medical illness is not.

I'm not outraged. But certainly disappointed and hope for better for the laborers of Florida.

Nothing? There must be an amazing conspiracy among media outlets to suppress the news of all the labor related heat deaths down here.

Lobbyists know how to play the game. Block local rules because it would be reasonable to have consistent standards state wide. Once that's achieved, block state wide rules. Then block federal rules.

Yes, this is a time-tested approach complete with shopworn phrases you have definitely heard from lobbying firms and their boughten politicians.

One day they ominously warn of 'one-size-fits all solutions"; in the very next breath, on a different issue, it's a "regulatory patchwork" that threatens honest capitalist.

Not sure why you got downvoted. You are right on.

Is this driven only by business lobbyists (e.g., agriculture, construction, landscaping)?

What do Florida voters think about it?

Unimportant because voters have negligible per issue power in American politics so "Tough Guy" Ron can do almost whatever he wants. Also, brutality is one of the Six Sigmas[0] and core value of American conservatism.

0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retreat_to_Move_Forward

Why is this agitprop on HN when politics are supposed to be shunned here and this article is clearly political and from a biased source at that?

Politics shouldn't be shunned because politics permeate all aspects of life, from individuals to populations, including, of course, business. If we can't have civilised discussions about politics, then it's a different problem.

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