Climate Labor
All Stories
-
![Collage of a worker wearing a hazmat suit cleaning up after wildfire, a worker repairing a power line, and a firefighter standing in a field]()
![Collage of a worker wearing a hazmat suit cleaning up after wildfire, a worker repairing a power line, and a firefighter standing in a field]()
The people behind America’s disaster recovery
From cleanup crews to powerline techs, these are the workers called in after catastrophe.
-
![a farmworker in a blue hoodie carries a bucket of tomatoes on their shoulder as they walk through a row of crops]()
![a farmworker in a blue hoodie carries a bucket of tomatoes on their shoulder as they walk through a row of crops]()
Farmworkers already face harsh conditions. Now they may have to deal with a pay cut.
Hard-line immigration policy, climate change, and labor shortages are colliding to create a real problem for U.S. farms.
-
![This image from video provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via DVIDS shows manufacturing plant employees waiting to have their legs shackled at the Hyundai Motor Group’s electric vehicle plant, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, in Ellabell, Ga.]()
![This image from video provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via DVIDS shows manufacturing plant employees waiting to have their legs shackled at the Hyundai Motor Group’s electric vehicle plant, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, in Ellabell, Ga.]()
In Georgia, Trump’s immigration agenda and clean energy jobs are colliding
Expert foreign workers are key to setting up new factories in the U.S. An ICE raid targeting them could hurt efforts to ramp up American manufacturing.
-
![a fast-food worker tends to chicken pieces roasting on a grill in an El Pollo Loco restaurant]()
![a fast-food worker tends to chicken pieces roasting on a grill in an El Pollo Loco restaurant]()
Workers are facing dangerous heat — even inside fast-food restaurants
Rising temperatures and chronically broken cooling systems are turning the lunch rush into a deadly risk for some workers.
-
![two farmworkers backlist by the sun use long tools to weed a bell pepper field]()
![two farmworkers backlist by the sun use long tools to weed a bell pepper field]()
A long-awaited rule to protect workers from heat stress moves forward, even under Trump
While labor experts say the regulation is progressing quickly, advocacy groups wonder what has taken so long.
-
![]()
![]()
100 days in, does Trump still ‘dig’ coal?
Presidents have long used coal miners as political props. Yet federal policies have done little to improve their lives, and some things have actually gotten worse.
-
![]()
![]()
Trump administration moves to shutter mine safety offices in coal country
Miners and their advocates worry that DOGE's cuts to the Mine Safety and Health Administration will put them at risk.
-
![Farmworkers and their advocates wave pickets on the steps of the Capitol in Olympia, Washington]()
![Farmworkers and their advocates wave pickets on the steps of the Capitol in Olympia, Washington]()
How farmworkers in Washington state got lawmakers’ attention
An annual tribunal where farmworkers share their experiences and needs has spurred laws guaranteeing overtime pay and heat protection.
-
![An illustration of three people -- a woman with goats, a person with suspenders and a sun hat, and a woman in a blue dress near yellow plants -- under a darkening sky with moon and sunset]()
![An illustration of three people -- a woman with goats, a person with suspenders and a sun hat, and a woman in a blue dress near yellow plants -- under a darkening sky with moon and sunset]()
Extreme heat is forcing farmers to work overnight, an adaptation that comes with a cost
Farmers and fisherfolk across the world are shifting into nighttime work to escape perilous heat.
-
![FIve offshore wind turbines in the ocean]()
![FIve offshore wind turbines in the ocean]()
Can unions save offshore wind from Trump?
Organized labor has a plan for how to keep New England’s renewable energy momentum going.
