"Heat waves are making restaurant kitchens unsafe. Workers are fighting back"

…the situation at this non-union restaurant, a rarity on the Las Vegas strip, was becoming untenable…

…The confluence of indoor and outdoor heat has inspired some workers to unionize and fight for stronger safeguards at work…

…all heat waves are made more likely or stronger because of climate change….

Food workers have long been on the front line of worsening global temperatures…

Similarly, restaurant cooks and servers can often be subject to extremely high indoor temperatures …

Women and people of color are disproportionately represented in certain restaurant roles. …Many are immigrants or undocumented, and may fear retaliation or losing work for speaking out about working conditions…

Some Homegrown locations, according to workers, are in older buildings that lack adequate climate control…

…the workers at Homegrown won language in their union contract in March that could help with that. The workers fought for a clause that allows them to receive time-and-a-half pay when temperatures in the store reach 82 degrees Fahrenheit…

Homegrown’s management didn’t reply to Grist’s request for comment…

…Last summer, workers at a Starbucks located in Houston, Texas, went on strike over extreme heat in their store. ..

In response to a request for comment, Starbucks said the company is committed to ensuring worker and customer safety and routined review conditions in stores…