Following hours of discussion on Tuesday, Miami-Dade commissioners chose to delay a long-awaited vote until next March on a controversial heat-related ordinance proposal that would protect outdoor workers in the agriculture and construction industries.
The measure, if passed by commissioners, would represent the first of its kind in the South.
would implement a heat exposure safety education program, enact required 10 minute paid shaded rest and water breaks every two hours on high heat days, and set up a new County Office to enforce the heat standard rules.
Hundreds of people 鈥� spilling out from the commission chambers 鈥� came to Tuesday鈥檚 commission meeting. But commissioners did not give anyone from the public a chance to speak directly about the ordinance.
READ MORE: "Activists want Miami-Dade commissioners to back protections for outdoor workers in extreme heat"
Supporters say the ordinance would provide basic, necessary protections for farm and construction workers across the county.
Homestead-based farmworker Reyna Osorio told 港澳天下彩she鈥檚 afraid to speak up at work when experiencing heat illness symptoms, fearing she could be fired or have her pay docked for complaining.
鈥淚t seems unjust,鈥� said Osorio, who feels some employers are more worried about their costs rather than the health of workers regularly exposed to the heat. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to take care of our health and [my boss] doesn鈥檛 care about our health. He has no love for us, his workers.鈥�
District 2 Commissioner Marliene Bastien, one of the co-sponsors of the ordinance, called for tabling the vote to give commissioners more time to consider passage.
鈥淲e do agree that outdoor workers deserve the protection that this legislation will offer,鈥� Bastien said. 鈥淎nd they deserve to be protected because we know that some of them have died as a result of heat illnesses, heat strokes.鈥�
"[Workers] deserve to be protected because we know that some of them have died as a result of heat illnesses, heat strokes.鈥�Commissioner Marliene Bastien, a co-sponsor of the legislation
Opponents, including District 8 Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins, said the proposal isn鈥檛 fair and balanced, and could diminish the agriculture and construction businesses.
鈥淭his is not a heat standard. This is an overreaching and an egregious heat sanction on only two industries,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his ordinance could potentially kill industry.鈥�
One Homestead farmer, Sam Accursio, who is the county鈥檚 Vice Chair of the Agricultural Practices Advisory Board, said he and others in agriculture already provide safeguards that workers are demanding under the proposed ordinance.
He said he was disappointed not to be able to speak to the commission, saying that he took offense at being labeled as 鈥渕urderers and exploiters of labor鈥� during the proposal鈥檚 first reading.
Accursio also feels that industry leaders, like him, were largely ignored during the drafting of the proposed legislation.
Esteban Wood, policy director for WeCount!, a nonprofit advocacy group in Homestead for immigrant workers, told 港澳天下彩that there need to be mechanisms in place to hold bad-faith employers accountable.
鈥淭he idea of having some deterrence for noncompliance is absolutely fundamental to this piece of legislation, because what we're seeing on a day to day basis is workers being denied access to water breaks on the job,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat is abhorrent.鈥�
"This is not a heat standard. This is an overreaching and an egregious heat sanction on only two industries. This ordinance could potentially kill industry.鈥�District 8 Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins, opponent to the legislation
The measure鈥檚 opponents called for more attention on education about heat protection and not law enforcement actions.
鈥淚 think education and training best practices are really the only way that this is going to move forward in a positive way to help both the employee and the employers,鈥� said Miami Dade Farm Bureau鈥檚 Vice President Heather Moehling. 鈥淚t's frankly insulting that we're being told that we're not taking care of our employees.鈥�
Supporters vowed to continue to push commissioners to pass the ordinance.
鈥淚n the coming months, we will continue to organize to win the first municipal heat standard in the country,鈥� said Oscar Londo帽o, 鈥檚 co-executive director. 鈥淲e know we鈥檙e on the right side of history, and we hope our county commissioners will join us and pass this legislation in March.鈥�
The commission鈥檚 vote over the summer followed a series of stories published in July by the Miami Herald, that documented the deadly consequences of extreme heat caused by climate change on those working outdoors and the overall South Florida economy.
This summer, the United States, along with other northern hemisphere countries, witnessed record temperatures. July and August were the hottest months in recorded history by scientists and major U.S. and international climate and weather services ever recorded.
