Heat wave exposes workers to injury and death in auto plants, warehouses and delivery routes - World Socialist Web SiteMenuSearch
LatestProfile
English
Contact|About|
International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)<br>MenuSearch<br>International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)<br>LatestProfile
Fourth International<br>Socialist Equality Party<br>IYSSE<br>About the WSWS<br>Contact<br>Donate
facebook icon
Tell us what conditions are like at your workplace during the heatwave by filling out the form below. All submissions will be kept confidential.<br>A dangerous heat wave across the Midwest and Eastern United States is exposing workers to serious injury and death in manufacturing plants, warehouses, postal facilities and delivery routes, where millions are being kept on the job without air conditioning or adequate safety measures.
A man uses a towel to cool down during an extreme heat wave that has broiled the East Coast, on Thursday, July 2, 2026, in New York. [AP Photo/Ryan Murphy]Europe has just passed through a parallel heat disaster, with record-breaking heat across Western, Central and Southern Europe, with more than 150 million people affected and more than 2,000 excess deaths in Spain and France alone.<br>In the US, the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center (WPC) warned Thursday of a “prolonged and dangerous heatwave” across the Central and Eastern US, with widespread highs of 95 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit (35 to 41 C) and heat indices reaching 100 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit (38 to 46 C). The WPC warned that warm overnight lows in the mid-70s to low 80s Fahrenheit (24 to 28 C) will provide little recovery, producing widespread Major to Extreme Heat Risk and increased danger of heat-related illness, especially for those without adequate cooling.<br>Local governments are treating the heat wave as a public health emergency. New York City activated an emergency heat plan, opening hundreds of cooling centers, deploying COOL vans and expanded pop-up cooling stations for outdoor workers, and directing thousands of LinkNYC kiosks to display routes to nearby cooling centers.<br>Philadelphia extended its Heat Health Emergency through Sunday, July 5, keeping more than 50 cooling centers open, suspending water shutoffs, declaring a Code Red for people living outdoors and adding misting tents, hydration stations and medical tents for July 4 and World Cup events.<br>The power grid is also under acute strain. PJM Interconnection, the largest US grid operator, implemented emergency measures Thursday. Reuters reported that PJM ordered all generators to run at full capacity, brought idle plants back online and prepared demand-response measures as operating reserves fell sharply.<br>Heat-related emergency department visits are rising sharply. In the Department of Health and Human Services’ Region 5, covering Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, the CDC Heat and Health Tracker figure rose from 183 on Sunday to 1,536 on Wednesday. Region 3, covering the Mid-Atlantic, rose from 72 to 1,162, while Region 2, including New York and New Jersey, rose from 91 to 942.<br>New York City heat-related emergency department visits rose from two on June 27 to 43 on July 1, the highest figure of the year so far, on a day when the high temperature reached 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39 C).<br>These emergency measures contrast with the reality facing workers. In factories, warehouses and delivery operations, employers are keeping production and delivery moving under conditions that workers themselves describe as dangerous.
At Ford Dearborn Truck Plant, workers reported Wednesday that managers and maintenance supervisors were issuing orders to remove or cover electrical receptacles used by workers to power fans at their workstations. All plugged-in fans must be removed by July 13, according to the order described by workers.<br>News of the order spread through the plant as workers faced temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 C). “Taking fans from workers is just backwards and tells us how little the company thinks of the workers,” one worker wrote. “I have no doubt this is a plot to make workers want to quit and/or set the lines up for robots to just force people out.”<br>Another worker denounced Ford’s claim that the fans posed a safety issue. “So they want to take fans away when it’s hotter than hell out? Talking about ‘it’s a safety hazard.’ That’s some certified B.S. and we all know it.” The worker added, “Let’s see how much of a hazard [there will be] when you have people fall out from over HEATING or God forbid somebody has a heat stroke.”<br>Ford workers are already dealing with massive workload increases since the new contract was ratified in 2023, which was immediately followed by layoffs. “It’s insane,” a Dearborn worker said. “Where is the union?”<br>At Ford Chicago Assembly Plant, a worker described conditions as “tragic, overheated, miserable.” Workers report that ambulances are regularly stationed at the back of the...