Photo by David Geneugelijk

The steel-plate floors “absorb heat and radiate it to no end,” says Keenan Bell, explaining why temperatures in parts of the Bridgestone tire plant in Des Moines, Iowa, regularly soar to 110 or even 115 degrees during summer months.

The sweltering conditions pose a constant threat to the plant’s 530 union workers, who also have to contend with molten rubber and heat-generating manufacturing equipment, all while wearing boots and long pants to protect them from a variety of other hazards on the job.

Bell and other representatives of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 310L monitor the temperature. And when scorching weather triggers a safety alert, mandatory cool-down periods and other special safeguards go into effect.

A strong, vigilantly enforced USW contract empowers these workers to stay healthy and keep each other safe on the hottest days.

All Americans deserve similar protections, regardless of who employs them, what state they call home, or whether they work indoors or out. That’s why the USW, other unions, and

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