"Extreme heat is turning up the temperature on workers - and employers,"

The sweat on Gerald Green’s forehead started dripping into his eye as he manned the Waffle House grill in the Georgia heat this July... The AC remained inoperable through the summer, with temperatures higher than normal, and the city’s average monthly high approaching 93 degrees in July...

Workers say they told managers about the problem in March, but nothing changed... They began to organize with the Union of Southern Service Workers (USSW)...

Indeed, across the country — but perhaps most intensely in the South — the rising heat at work is having a surprising ripple effect: It is driving workers to organize. At workplaces from Waffle House and Dollar General to e-bike-share warehouses, extreme heat is often the last straw for workers in previously temperate jobs. Once workers complain about heat, calls for better wages, benefits and schedules often follow...

An investigation in Nevada found that workers had filed complaints about working in indoor temperatures above 90 degrees without air-conditioning in retail stores, warehouses, auto shops, industrial laundry centers, office buildings and doctor’s offices...

[At New Orleans Blue Krewe bike mechanic] mechanics said they felt nauseous and sick. The company installed standing and floor fans around the warehouse and this year provided access to an air-conditioned break room, but it still felt hot...

Blue Krewe CEO Geoff Coats said in an emailed statement that the process took months because the company had to work with the building’s landlord, architect and HVAC engineer to explore ventilation options...

Waffle House did not respond to requests for comment...

The pattern repeated at a Burger King in Decatur, Georgia, said Arnice Sykes, a shift leader at the store...

Sykes and her co-workers organized a protest with the help of USSW on July 28, a day with a high temperature of 95 degrees. The next day, the air-conditioning was repaired. 

Burger King did not respond to requests for comment...

While workers at Burger King, Waffle House and Blue Krewe saw their companies address complaints about heat, they are all still waiting for change on other issues including compensation and scheduling.