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The sun rising over the River Mersey in Liverpool, June 24, 2024
THE TUC has passed a motion calling for a “heat strike” on days when temperatures rise above 36°C.
BFAWU submitted the proposal on climate change’s impact on workers’ health, which suggests setting a national maximum working temperature, a furlough scheme for extreme weather, along with “heat strikes.”
The strikes would not be a legal union strike, but aims to raise awareness through joint actions, such as lunchtime walkouts, organised collectively with climate campaigners.
BFAWU general secretary Sarah Wooley said: “By passing this motion, we are sending a clear message: we will not stand by while our workers are put at risk by a crisis that they did not cause.”
“We will fight for a just transition, for health and safety protections, and a future where no one has to choose between their job and their lives.”
Claire Trevor, branch secretary of Unite Hospitality East Midlands, said: “Young workers and the climate crisis need to be accommodated now, before it’s too late.”
“In a just transition, no work should be left behind, but we must not forget that there are no jobs on a dead planet.”
When it comes to extreme weather events, from wildfires to flash floods, it’s firefighters who are on the front line of defence, but services have been cut to the bone, and government is not taking seriously its responsibility for the environment, says STEVE WRIGHT
