IUF Call to Action on Extreme Heat

Our planet is warming, and extreme heat has become a deadly workplace hazard. Across all IUF sectors - especially agriculture, food processing, hospitality, and kitchens - workers face growing risks to their health and lives. Whether working outdoors under the sun or indoors in poorly ventilated kitchens, bakeries, and factories, workers are collapsing, falling ill, and dying. Extreme heat is not only a climate crisis - it is a workers' rights and survival emergency.

The IUF calls on affiliates, governments, and companies to act urgently to protect workers from extreme heat before hot seasons begin. [Link]

IUF calls on its affiliates to advocate for the adoption, implementation, and enforcement of laws that protect workers from heat stress, including clear limits on maximum working temperatures and mandatory protective measures. Affiliates should negotiate comprehensive heat protections in collective agreements and raise awareness of heat-related risks among workers.

The IUF calls on companies to take responsibility across their operations and supply chains, in line with ILO Convention No. 155 and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. IUF calls on employers to carry out joint workplace risk assessments with unions, set safe temperature limits, ensure access to rest, water, shade, and cooling, and fully respect workers' right to stop work without penalty when conditions become dangerous and ensure income protection. The IUF also demands protection for all workers, including migrants, seasonal, and informal workers.

IUF calls on governments to recognize heat stress as an occupational hazard and to adopt and enforce strong occupational safety and health laws with maximum temperature limits, mandatory rest breaks, access to water and shade, and adjusted working hours during heat waves and effective labour inspection. The IUF also demands ratification of ILO health and safety conventions and expansion of social protection coverage for all workers.

See the full IUF call to action on extreme heat in English, Spanish and French.