Climate-induced Exploitation: Workers’ rights and protections on a heated planet

Abstract

This article envisions new approaches to worker protections on a heated planet. As worksites become increasingly hazardous, legal frameworks that regulate workplace standards as well as provide protections for forced labourers do not account—as of yet—for the heightened risks they face due to climate change. The article calls for the re-evaluation of the socio-legal dimensions of forced labour as climate-altered working conditions worsen. It focuses on three under-examined populations who labour in sectors exceptionally burdened by the climate catastrophe in the United States: undocumented migrants, H-2A and H-2B visa recipients, and incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. These workers labour through excruciatingly hot temperatures, dismal air quality, and toxic pesticides often with no protective gear or water or shade breaks. They also do ‘disaster work’ by preparing for and cleaning up after fires, hurricanes, and floods. The authors consider if the worst of worsening working conditions constitute forced labour and conclude by outlining protections and remedies that workers have been demanding.