New Jersey

Workers push for heat standards in State House demonstration – New Jersey Globe

Published

1 year ago

September 23, 2024

Workers push for heat standards in State House demonstration – New Jersey Globe

Daniela Rivero splashed water on her face in a warehouse bathroom on a hot summer day, eager to cool down.

She’s worked in warehouses for 20 years, she said through an interpreter, but the summer heat is only worsening. For Rivero, the relief was needed — unchecked heat made her dizzy, and she had even fainted at work before.

“My boss then said, ‘Why are you going to the bathroom so much? I’m going to buy you Pampers. Do you have a problem?”

Rivero was one of at least a dozen workers who lined the hallways of the State House on Monday, pushing for a bill that would protect workers from heat-related illnesses while on the job. The bill, which now sits before the Senate and Assembly’s respective appropriations committees, would mandate employers to implement a plan to prevent heat-related injuries on hot days. The bill requires employers to provide cool drinking water, give paid breaks in shade or air conditioning, and monitor workers for signs of heat illness.

The bill passed through the Legislature’s labor committees in May, but legislators hit pause before their summer break. Critics of the bill, especially business groups, say the legislation is impractical and places a burden on employers.

But Monday’s State House demonstration — organized by advocacy group Make the Road New Jersey and joined by Teamsters, IUPAT, and Warehouse Life — put heat back into the discussion as summer drips away and the Legislature roars back.

Keisha Drake, a member of Warehouse Life who worked in an Amazon warehouse for nearly seven years, said she thinks the bill will eventually be passed.

The bill will largely support workers in industrial and agricultural settings, like farm workers, warehouse and shipping workers, and other outdoor employees. And, with summer 2024 the hottest on record, Drake said the bill is needed now to prevent heat stress, which has killed killed at least 815 workers from 1992 to 2017.

“The fact that you work for a billion-dollar company and they actually do not protect their workers from extreme heat like that, it doesn’t make any sense,” Drake said.

California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington offer some type of heat standard for workers, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. With the passage of this bill, New Jersey would join them.

“People have to cool down,” Drake said. “People are not robots.”

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New Jersey

N.J. group demands review of Trenton immigration arrest operation at auto shop

Published

3 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

N.J. group demands review of Trenton immigration arrest operation at auto shop

U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-Mercer, said in a statement on Facebook that she has been briefed about the incident and her office is monitoring the situation.

Pazmino said her organization is calling on members of the community to come together.

“Brown and Black immigrant communities and nonimmigrant communities are welcome, and should be uniting against this force,” she said.

She is also calling on local officials to assist relatives of those taken into custody.

“We need to support families affected by these kidnappings, with mutual aid, donations and anything else you think will help each other,” Pazmino said.

A woman identified as Andrea, while holding her 1-year-old daughter, Genesis, tearfully spoke in Spanish about the anguish she feels and her fears about the future without her husband Christian, one of the men taken into custody. A friend, who translated her word into English, said Christian was a good and honest man.

“If he used to see a neighbor carrying something heavy, he would run to help them. If a friend needed a favor, he didn’t ask, he just did it,” she said.

Andrea (left) whose husband, Christian, was taken into custody during a raid on a Trenton auto repair shop, holds her 1-year-old daughter, Genesis, while translator Ashley Batz reads her statement in English. (Emma Lee/WHYY)

She said “his daughter was his whole world. He would wake up to her and give her kisses every morning. He would play with her after a long day at work. He loved us and protected us. He didn’t do anything wrong, so why was he taken?”

The Rev. Erich Kussman, St. Bartholomew’s pastor, said the entire Lutheran Church stands with the family.

“Anything you need, you can come to us. I want you to know that. I will stand with you, and we will do what we can to protect you, because that’s the call of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” he said.

“Standing with ICE is antithetical to the gospel of Jesus Christ, hands down,” he added. “Fifty-one times the scriptures tell us to welcome the immigrant and foreigner as one of our own. If you’re not living true to that gospel, the words of Christ himself, you are not a Christian, no matter what you claim to be.”

With immigration enforcement activity on the rise in New Jersey, lawmakers have proposed several bills to expand protections for immigrant communities. One measure called the “Fight Unlawful Conduct and Keep Individuals and Communities Empowered Act” would allow individuals to file a lawsuit against ICE agents who violate their constitutional rights.

Asma Elhuni speaking at a podium — Asma Elhuni, an organizer with Resistencia En Acción NJ speaks at a press conference at St. Bartholomew Lutheran Church in Trenton, joined by pastor Erich Kussman. The group was responding to the detention of three workers at Agudo’s Repair Shop on Feb. 20, 2026. (Emma Lee/WHYY)

Another proposed bill would require any business that operates a private prison or detention facility in the state to pay a tax equal to 50% of the taxpayer’s gross receipts derived from the operation of the facility during the previous year. The bill also stipulates all revenues generated would go to an “immigration protection fund.”

Recently proposed legislation would prohibit ICE agents from ever holding a public job in the Garden State, and New Jersey U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim are proposing legislation to prevent new funding for the Department of Homeland Security from being used to purchase a warehouse in Roxbury, New Jersey.

Requests for comment from ICE and the U.S. Marshals Service were not immediately returned.

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New Jersey

Spring’s coming; Sunny, warm Saturday and significant warm-up ahead NJ

Published

15 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Spring’s coming; Sunny, warm Saturday and significant warm-up ahead NJ

A brief respite from cold weather is ahead of New Jersey this weekend, before temperatures continue to rise late next week, according to the National Weather Service.

Saturday, Feb. 28 will be sunny across the Garden State, and temperatures will be comfortable, reaching the high 40s and low 50s.

Then, a brief artic cold front is expected to move into the region late on Saturday night, bringing temps to low 30’s and some scattered snow showers on Sunday, especially in North Jersey.

During the week, a couple low pressure systems are in the NWS forecast. Little snow if any is expected from these systems, especially in the late week, when a significant warm-up is expected.

Asbury Park and Monmouth County weekend weather forecast

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 45.

Saturday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 33.

Sunday: Partly sunny and a chance of snow before 1 p.m. The high should be near 39. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Sunday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 22.

Wildwoods and Atlantic County weather forecast

Saturday: Partly sunny, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 56.

Saturday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 31.

Sunday: Partly sunny and a slight chance of rain before 1 p.m. The high should be near 44. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Sunday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 19.