48
votes
UPS agrees to equip US delivery trucks with air-conditioning for the first time
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- Title
- UPS workers facing extreme heat win a deal to get air conditioning in new trucks
- Authors
- Joe Hernandez
- Published
- Jun 14 2023
- Word count
- 451 words
I heard about this on NPR and was shocked that they don't have AC! That seems inhumane.
But then again we are living in a reality where Texas just passed a bill making it illegal to require employers to provide workers a break for water.
As someone who works in the world of construction I have to point out that people are being selectively mislead by the media on this one. I work for one of the top utility scale renewable energy contractors in North America and a significant portion of what I do is in the state of Texas. Currently in the state of Texas basically everyone (lets say 99.9% of employees because someone is always a piece of shit who takes advantage of or abuses people.) is being given time off to each lunch. Also, people working in the heat are being given adequate time and access to potable water while working. Most would be surprised to know that there are no state laws mandating either one.
That is because any company working in Texas is going to follow OSHA standards which state "Potable water shall be provided in all places of employment, for drinking, washing of the person, cooking, washing of foods, washing of cooking or eating utensils, washing of food preparation or processing premises, and personal service rooms.". OSHA laws already require water to be available and reasonable opportunity must be provided to access it. The same goes for bathrooms. The absence of a law at a state or municipality level does not mean the protection does not exist.
HB02127F absolutely does not make it illegal to require employers to provide works a break for water.. What it does is make sure that different municipalities are not writing their own regulations. The media has just chosen water breaks as the example because it is an extreme way to get people to pay attention and be outraged. The reality is the GOP that passed this didn't really do anything. Nothing is really going to change. They just made everything consistent across the whole state.
They can no longer do that. Regardless of the municipality any business is just going to adhere to OSHA rules which is what they have been doing as long as OSHA has been around and enforced. It makes adhering to regulations far easier since it is not a patchwork of different rules and regulations when a superseding one already exists.
Thank you for that explanation - that's very good to know that people's lives aren't being put at risk. I still wish they would mandate minimal access across the board with a set time frame as it seems like from what you're saying, the OSHA guidelines just say "reasonable" which is very vague and your link doesn't seem to even reference a "reasonable" access/time frame.
My concern is that only the following are listed:
1910.141(b)(1)(i)
Potable water shall be provided in all places of employment, for drinking, washing of the person, cooking, washing of foods, washing of cooking or eating utensils, washing of food preparation or processing premises, and personal service rooms.
1910.141(b)(1)(iii)
Portable drinking water dispensers shall be designed, constructed, and serviced so that sanitary conditions are maintained, shall be capable of being closed, and shall be equipped with a tap.
This leaves a lot of room for them to provide water but say in the building and the farm workers have to walk 20 min back to the building and not have time to actually drink them. But I'll have hope that you're right and that people will do the right thing.
People are already doing the right thing in 99.9% of cases. Also what would the advantage be of having water 20 minutes away and making them walk 20 minutes to get it? If you have employees and you are doing that what do you gain other than being categorized as one of the 0.1% of people I mentioned who are absolute assholes who take advantage of people.
It's seriously about time! How has this not been implemented before.
How.
Because they weren't required to by law and it was cheaper to literally let their workers die
This deal only happened because of union and collective bargaining, not from the sweetness of their cold shrivyhearts.
Unionize. Strength labour laws.
When was the last time you were even able to buy a vehicle without AC?
I do agree that the company is responsible for their actions and cost cutting. This has caused, as you mentioned, quite a few heat related incidents that didn't spark any additional care from the company management as a whole.
It's also true, I really don't know when the last time you could buy a vehicle without AC by default.
I am happy for my UPS buds in Vegas. I think the new USPS vehicles have AC - only seen one once. The Amazon vans appear to have it. Dunno about FedEx, DHL, et al...
It's crazy you have to force companies to do this.