A right to drink? Inside the debate to protect US workers against the heat

Texas and Florida have passed state laws to ban local ordinances mandating water and rest breaks during extreme heat [File: Jeff Roberson/AP Photo]

Dallas, Texas – More than a decade later, Eva Marroquin’s voice still shakes when she talks about it.

The 51-year-old mother of five had been working construction in Austin, Texas, for about five years when she heard that a friend had died of heat exposure at a worksite. It was 2012, and he had been helping to build a bridge at the intersection of two local highways.