As The Texas Tribune explains, the law is designed to override local ordinances in Austin and Dallas (read: Democratic cities) that require 10-minute breaks for construction workers every four hours so that they can drink and take shade. San Antonio has been considering a similar requirement, The Tribune says, but the new law also prohibits other cities from doing so in the future.
The law that Abbott signed, in the middle of a dangerous heat wave no less, will almost certainly have fatal consequences for Texas workers, particularly Latinos. Fortunately, the law doesn’t take effect until September 1. But anyone familiar with Texas weather knows that it can still be bloody hot then.
The Tribune provides these very disturbing statistics about how deadly Texas heat can be:
Texas is the state where the most workers die from high temperatures, government data shows. At least 42 workers died in Texas between 2011 and 2021 from environmental heat exposure, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workers’ unions claim this data doesn’t fully reflect the magnitude of the problem because heat-related deaths are often recorded under a different primary cause of injury.
This problem particularly affects Latinos because they represent six out of every 10 construction workers, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
There’s no doubt that the law is intended to own the libs, literally. And maybe kill them, too.
More from The Tribune:
HB 2127, introduced by state Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, is perhaps Texas Republicans’ most aggressive attempt to curb progressive policies in the state’s largest, liberal-leaning cities. Under the new law, local governments would be unable to create rules that go beyond what state law dictates in broad areas like labor, agriculture, business and natural resources.
Republicans claim the bill is designed to keep businesses from getting bogged down by local rules that may conflict with the state. But Austin is in the midst of a huge construction and business boom. So, obviously the construction and other businesses have been undeterred by a rule that mandates 10, potentially-lifesaving minutes every four hours.
And in case you think that the bill is really about uniform laws, The Tribune notes that two bills were filed during the just-ended legislative session to enact statewide heat protections for workers. Both failed.
