I recently learn an article about more than 2 employees quitting their job at a fast food restaurant after being forced to work for almost 2 months without A/C, I personally could not imagine going to work, in a uniform that is most likely pants, working around hot grills and fryers and being expected to continue working, the article stated that the outside rapidly increasing temperatures were in the 90’s everyday while the A/C was off.
This puts the employees at risk for heat related illnesses such as heat stroke and heat exhaustion.
I remember when I first started teaching at my university, the cooling system barely worked in the first classroom they assigned me to. I was teaching in July in the south, where rapidly increasing temperatures were in the 100’s with high humidity. The A/C would only come on for about 5 minutes and came on constantly when the school day was over. I also could not open the windows. I brought the complaint to our principal’s secretary and she immediately offered for me to temporarily move classrooms until the university district’s heating and air conditioning professionals could repair the issue. If I was forced to stay in that hot classroom, that would have been unsafe for both myself and our students. It is unfair for employees to be forced into finally working in dangerous conditions without A/C. If the manager of the supplier is not able to repair the A/C themselves, they should call a heating and air conditioning business immediately to repair it. If for some reason there is a delay in the heating and air conditioning business coming out, the supplier should temporarily close until everything is fixed. It is not worth potentially risking an employee’s life.