WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida can be hot.
It’s a point not many argue about.
Outdoor workers are probably the most familiar with the heat and humidity.
Yesica Ramirez with The Farmworker Association of Florida agreed.
"Florida is much hotter,” Ramirez said, “It is or is one of the hottest states in the US. On top of that, the state of Florida has a lot of humidity and outdoor workers sometimes have to work very quickly."
It was enough to stir interest in Miami-Dade County for strict heat protection rules, including shade requirements, water accessibility, and depending on the heat, 10- minute breaks for every two hours of work. It never took off but did inspire HB 433 a measure to block local governments from implementing similar measures.
"With this law, HB 433, our hands are completely tied," Ramirez said. "Our community already has many rights violations in this type of work. There are already many fears and because of this law passed, the anti-immigrant law, people are afraid to speak."
The bill was co-sponsored by state Rep. Rick Roth, R-District 94, who said seeing municipalities like Miami-Dade trying to put restrictions in place is frustrating.
"Heat exposure regulations coming from a municipality or a county that doesn’t have the staff, the research or the knowledge to me doesn’t make sense," Roth said. "As a city or county or state, You should be passing laws and regulations based on your expertise."
Roth said he's speaking as someone with experience in the industry
"I’ve been in business for 45 years," he said. “We’ve been harvesting lettuce and leafy vegetables, corn by hand for 45 years and you have to maintain a viable workforce and it's a struggle in today’s economy. It's hard to find good agricultural workers so I can pretty much guarantee you the good agricultural operations are doing everything in their power to take care of their employees and want them to come back to work. We’re in a time period where some people just don’t want to work."
Ramirez, with some experience of her own, offered a counter for Rother and other politicians.
"We want to invite these politicians and the governor (Ron DeSantis) to go just one day to work in a field so that they can see how difficult. It is not only to work, but to work a full day without water and working quickly in the sun,” she said.
Ramirez added that The Farmworker Association of Florida plans to push for change at the Capitol and fight for laborers next legislative session.
