Texan activists thirst for a national heat standard to protect outdoor workers

Construction workers, airport baggage handlers, letter carriers, and other outdoor workers—many of whom traveled to Washington, D.C., from Texas—gathered at the steps of the Capitol last Tuesday. They were joined by labor organizers and lawmakers for what was billed as “a vigil and thirst strike” to protest a law Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently signed, which, as a downstream consequence, eliminates mandated water breaks for construction workers.