Guest columnist
What’s worse than working outside in a dangerous heat wave? Doing the work in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott signed a state law to overturn local laws in Austin and Dallas that mandate 10-minute breaks every four hours for construction workers. Effective Sept. 1, no water breaks will be allowed for those workers anywhere in the state.
In my career, lots of employees have worked at firms I managed. The Texas governor is disrespecting local governments that are trying to protect workers. He is endangering them. Already, at least two outdoor workers in Texas have died from heat-related illnesses. None of my past employees in management positions would ever do such a thing, but others might, and that is why government safety mandates matter.
Abbott is a Republican, and attacks on workers seem to fit a pattern with his fellow red-state governors, like ours. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a state law overturning regulations in some of Iowa’s large counties that raised the local minimum wage. The Iowa state minimum wage of $7.25, which has not been changed in 16 years, shares that dubious distinction with about a dozen other states for having the lowest minimum wage in the country. Most states around Iowa have mandated that workers be paid more. In South Dakota and Nebraska, the minimum wage is more than three dollars an hour higher than in Iowa.
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