TAMPA, Fla. – Florida’s farmworkers are expressing concern over the recent approval of a law banning local jurisdictions from requiring mandatory heat and water breaks for outdoor workers. 

READ: DeSantis signs bill banning Florida counties from requiring heat and water breaks for outdoor workers

HB 433 prohibits Florida cities and counties from establishing any protections for outdoor workers. That includes mandatory water breaks.

It’s no secret that outdoor workers, particularly farmworkers, are important to the Sunshine State, especially with so much of the state’s economy hinging on agriculture. 

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That’s why many of those workers and their supporters took to the streets in Homestead on Sunday to march against House Bill 433. 

One of the groups leading the charge was WeCount!, an organization in South Florida made up of farm, plant nursery, and construction workers. 

“For counties and cities to basically be handcuffed and be unable to implement basic protections is incredibly cruel,” said Esteban Wood, policy director of WeCount! “And it’s incredibly dangerous as a public policy issue.”

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“With this law HB 433, our hands are completely tied; our community already has many rights violations in this type of work, [and] there are already many fears, and because of this law passed – the anti-immigrant law – people are afraid to speak,” said Yesica Ramirez, of the Farmworker Association of Florida. 

Miami-Dade County was set to be the first in Florida to pass these types of protections. Their ordinance would have required employers to establish things like mandatory shade requirements, water accessibility, and – depending on the heat – ten-minute breaks for every two hours of work. 

But that ordinance is now abandoned because all of those protections would have been in direct violation of HB 33. Governor DeSantis signed the bill earlier this month, and it is set to take effect on July 1. 

tournament begins May 8

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – The Eastern Florida State College softball team clinched a spot in the FCSAA Division I/NJCAA South Atlantic District Championships with a win on Saturday.

The Titans, who finished the regular season 22-22 in the Citrus Conference, defeated the State College of Florida Manatee 6-3 in the first game and then lost the second game 5-2 on the road.

Eastern Florida State College will compete in the tournament beginning May 8 at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater. It will be the first time the Titans will be in the tournament since 2019.

In Game 1, the Titans scored in the third inning as Brooke Theisen doubled, bringing home Marisa Shoudt. SCF-Manatee would tie the game in the fourth inning. But in the fifth inning, the Titans would score twice and then three more times in the seventh inning to pick up the win.

Hannah Strickland would pick up the win, her 16th of the season and Alanna O’Brien came in to pick up the save, her seventh of the season.

Theisen had two hits in the games for the Titans and Shoudt and Livie Davis each scored twice.

In Game 2, the Titans scored runs in the second and third innings, but SCF-Manatee would tie the game in the bottom of the third and take the lead with three runs in the fourth inning.

Destiny Lake came in and tossed two scoreless innings of relief for the Titans, striking out one.

Eastern Florida State College now has 37 wins on the season which ties the 2011 team with the most wins in the past 30 years. They will wait to see who they will face in the first round of the state tournament.

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