‘Your body fights to stay cool’: workers toil in record heat as federal rule frozen

A man wipes the sweat away after working on the spray deck at the Vietnam Veterans Swimming and Wading Pool on June 24, 2025. Photograph: Boston Globe/Getty Images

When it’s 90F on a hot summer day, Esther Minton wears a long-sleeved shirt to work.

“Working outside, you don’t have cover. There’s nowhere for you to really go if you’re on a roof or if you’re on the side of a building,” said Minton, a member of the Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 28 in New York City. “Having the sun beaming on your skin all day long, you’ll never make it through, so what you wear makes a difference.”