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Europe's Largest Unions Demand Right to Cancel Work on Days Above 30C

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Re: Europe's Largest Unions Demand Right to Cancel Work on Days Above 30C

#91

Post by mjorgers »

swiftcoder wrote: post #71
rwmj wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which bit of Europe are you talking about? Italy and Spain have AC everywhere. Further north it hasn't been necessary until very recently, and now people are fighting in shops to buy portable units and there are going to be loads of permanent installations once things settle down later this year.

> Italy and Spain have AC everywhere Southern Spain may, but it's virtually unheard of up here in Galicia/Asturias/Cantabria. Even many businesses in these parts don't have AC, and our Ourense region has pretty regularly had 40+ C days the last ~5 summers

In the Canary Islands, where it’s not just hot, but also humid, you’ll be pressed to find a restaurant with AC. Some businesses do, but frankly it’s quite rare, and often times I’ve entered a business and felt a slap of heat in the face. Quite different from Madrid

Re: Europe's Largest Unions Demand Right to Cancel Work on Days Above 30C

#92

Post by richwater »

em-bee wrote: post #89
mamonster wrote: post #25

>The union said employers should take steps to cool down workplaces once temperatures exceed 24C, with workers able to stop working if temperatures reach 30C, or 27C for those doing manual labour or working outdoors. Geneva already has a version of this. You have to stop outside work at 13h00 unless it's necessary, in which case you have to take 45min breaks for every 15 minutes of work. However the threshold isn't 2…

take 45min breaks for every 15 minutes of work i guess you meant the reverse?

[flagged]

Re: Europe's Largest Unions Demand Right to Cancel Work on Days Above 30C

#93

Post by BoingBoomTschak »

Living in the south of France outside tourist havens (I had one when renting near St-Tropez), the current situation is that serious AC is considered something for the rich.

Not because AC itself is particularly expensive, but because almost no rental apartment has it because installing AC during the construction is basically forbidden due to green laws (RT 2012) so you need to own.

And owning something decent not in the damn city itself is expensive as fuck these days.

Re: Europe's Largest Unions Demand Right to Cancel Work on Days Above 30C

#94

Post by r_lee »

petcat wrote: post #32

I think this whole heat wave crisis has been shocking to the rest of the world to see that apparently Europeans refuse to install AC even in new-build homes and it is causing enormous numbers of deaths. What is the reason for this? Is it just because it's expensive and energy costs are so high? It seems like a basic safety requirement that they are refusing to acknowledge and are now apparently just refusing to go to…

because "in ze yurop we don't need ze AC!" and here we are now....

Re: Europe's Largest Unions Demand Right to Cancel Work on Days Above 30C

#95

Post by RickJWagner »

i_am_jl wrote: post #27
sarreph wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the article, it's for "jobs in sectors like agriculture and construction". Would be interesting to learn about how this kind of work is managed in hotter climates. For office work, a lot of European countries (especially the UK) haven't invested in AC as much as the rest of the world because they haven't needed to. This is especially apparent in housing, where working from home is becoming difficult in these hig…

I play games with a guy who does concrete work in Arizona, he mostly works at night.

I lived for a while in Tucson, Arizona.

Days could be brutally hot ( easily over 100 F ), but there was little humidity. My transportation was a motorcycle ( with additional heat radiating off the engine ), so mid often feel a little uncomfortable, but it was definitely livable.

Interestingly, homeowners often used evaporative ‘swamp coolers’ instead of AC. A big benefit of low humidity.

Re: Europe's Largest Unions Demand Right to Cancel Work on Days Above 30C

#96

Post by estearum »

Muromec wrote: post #90
globular-toast wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is this "a perception"? It's true isn't it? I'm going to get AC but the situation is quite worrying.

It isn't necessarily true. Here (bottom of the sea) it's only hot when the there isn't any clouds, so solar energy that produces the heat is also producing the electricity to run the AC. It's also a misdirection of guilt. It's not the accumulated CO2 from the decades of burning all kinds of shit that is driving the weather, it's your personal AC unit.

You're describing a very new and not-yet-realized state of affairs where large amounts of power comes from solar. In that world, then yeah obviously the initial concern isn't valid.

Re: Europe's Largest Unions Demand Right to Cancel Work on Days Above 30C

#97

Post by estearum »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #9
ydlr wrote: post #2

We should implement this in Florida. I wouldn't mind a five month vacation.

It's already somewhat implemented in Florida. OSHA requires employers to protect employees from extreme heat. It doesn't explicitly require air conditioning, but air conditioning is standard practice in Florida so not providing it would open up employers to an OSHA complaint. For outdoor work, protection from extreme heat generally implies shade, hydration, frequent breaks, et cetera.

OSHA? Isn't that a DEI program?

Re: Europe's Largest Unions Demand Right to Cancel Work on Days Above 30C

#100

Post by skeledrew »

sarreph wrote: post #6
ydlr wrote: post #2

We should implement this in Florida. I wouldn't mind a five month vacation.

From the article, it's for "jobs in sectors like agriculture and construction". Would be interesting to learn about how this kind of work is managed in hotter climates. For office work, a lot of European countries (especially the UK) haven't invested in AC as much as the rest of the world because they haven't needed to. This is especially apparent in housing, where working from home is becoming difficult in these hig…

> how this kind of work is managed in hotter climates.

Natural adaptation.

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