A report from Groundwork Collaborative, Workshop, and Center for Labor and a Just Economy outlines a coordinated campaign by corporations, trade groups, and their political allies to block enforceable heat protections for America’s labor force. Extreme heat is expected to increase in the coming years, and the cost of inaction is measured in lives lost. Adequately protecting America’s workers with strong, enforceable regulations could prevent as many as 1,500 worker deaths per year. The choice facing policymakers is not whether we can afford to protect workers from extreme heat, but whether we can afford not to.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Adam Dean is associate professor in the Department of Political Science at George Washington University. His research focuses on the political economy of international trade, labor politics, and the socioeconomic determinants of public health. He is the author of two books on international trade and labor politics: “From Conflict to Coalition”
(2016) and “Opening Up by Cracking Down” (2022), both of which were published by Cambridge University Press. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, his M.S. from the London School of Economics, and his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Jamie K. McCallum is professor of sociology at Middlebury College. His work has won scholarly awards and appeared in The Washington Post, Mother Jones, Jacobin, Dissent, In These Times, and other magazines. He is the author of “Essential: How the Pandemic Transformed the Long Struggle for Worker Justice” (2022), “Worked Over: How Round-The-Clock-Work Is Killing the American Dream” (2020), and “Global Unions, Local Power” (2013). He received his Ph.D in sociology from the City University of New York’s
Graduate Center.
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATIONS
Groundwork Collaborative
Established in 2018, Groundwork Collaborative is an economic think tank that transforms
the way people understand the economy. To win policies that create strong, broadly
shared prosperity and true opportunity for all, we advance new narratives about what a
good economy looks like. Groundwork’s unique tripartite structure – part communications
shop, part think tank, and part issue advocacy organization – allows us to drive economic
narratives with credibility, expertise, and impact.
Workshop
Workshop’s mission is to strengthen worker rights. Centering those most directly
impacted, Workshop leverages federal expertise and partnerships across government,
advocacy, and organizing to advance policies that protect and expand workers’ rights.
Center for Labor and a Just Economy
Housed at Harvard Law School, CLJE is a hub of collaborative research, policy, and strategies to empower working people to build an equitable economy and democracy.
