IATSE membership helps with job mobility because they enjoy a carve-out allowing sectorial bargaining. It would be illegal in US for a union to try to organize the software industry along the same lines.
Wow, illegal you say? Damn, I suppose an organization that is capable of shutting down an entire sector of the economy will have to obey the strict letter of the law...unfortunate.
It's already somewhat implemented in Florida. OSHA requires employers to protect employees from extreme heat. It doesn't explicitly require air conditioning, but air conditioning is standard practice in Florida so not providing it would open up employers to an OSHA complaint.
For outdoor work, protection from extreme heat generally implies shade, hydration, frequent breaks, et cetera.
> This is about temperature in the workplace, not outside temperatures
According to the article, the 30C threshold is for "more demanding jobs in sectors like agriculture and construction", which generally take place outdoors
Plenty of construction work takes place indoors as well. That said, the linked article isn't very clear on that aspect. It also mentions a minimum temperature of 16C in the UK which outdoors would be quite a lovely day, but rather cold for an office or other indoor workspace.
Cos today in my pokey town, my house is 30°C, my local library 28°C the gym is at least 25°C and the outside 31°C at a dew point of 15°C. Its not Florida but its the UK and there’s no relief.
From the article, it's for "jobs in sectors like agriculture and construction". Would be interesting to learn about how this kind of work is managed in hotter climates.
For office work, a lot of European countries (especially the UK) haven't invested in AC as much as the rest of the world because they haven't needed to. This is especially apparent in housing, where working from home is becoming difficult in these higher temperatures.
Days could be brutally hot ( easily over 100 F ), but there was little humidity. My transportation was a motorcycle ( with additional heat radiating off the engine ), so mid often feel a little uncomfortable, but it was definitely livable.
Interestingly, homeowners often used evaporative ‘swamp coolers’ instead of AC. A big benefit of low humidity.
At first I thought this was silly, then I remembered there is another guy in England that also claims sovereignty of this area. The Prince of Hutt has a better claim as far as I'm concerned.
When it comes to software specifically, there are a couple advantages of capitalist ownership:
1. Access to cash. While software does not require much physical capital (factories, equipment, raw materials, etc) those with capital have easier access to cash and can therefore scale much quicker.
2. Intellectual Property. In software industry, workers do not just use capital to make finished goods. They produce new capital out of their imaginations and that capital (which lasts 120 years, never breaks down, never deteriorates) is typically owned those who put up the cash. That makes their advantage grow over time.
None of that is insurmountable, but we are a long way from having the organization or political support to overcome them.
