Workers in the Southern US are suffering amid a record-breaking heatwave. In agriculture, the blazing heat and lack of shade are compounded by piece rates - which make workers reluctant to take breaks for fear of losing wages.

Farm workers are 35 times more likely to die of heat exposure than workers in other industries, according to the National Institutes of Health, but there is no federal heat standard that ensures their health and safety.

In Texas, the governor has recently signed a bill eliminating local rules mandating water breaks for construction workers. Yet 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.

Lack of protection from extreme heat disproportionately affects Black and Latino workers, who make up the majority of the workforce in the most vulnerable sectors like agriculture and construction.