Is Paid Extreme Weather Leave Possible?

By Willy Blackmore | Word In Black(WIB) – When Hurricane Helene swept through the South in late September, the extreme rainfall sent rivers over their banks across the region, including in eastern Tennessee. And when the Nolichucky River flooded, workers at Impact Plastics a riverside factory in Erwin, Tennesse,, were still on the job. Eleven workers, most of them Latinx, were swept away in the floodwaters, and six were killed.It’s a deadly example of a scenario that plays out routinely now in extreme weather events driven by climate change, where vulnerable workers who are often Black and Brown are stuck on the job even when weather alerts and local government guidance say that no one should be out and about due to the dangerous conditions. In Spain, where recent floods killed more than 200 people in Valencia, the left-wing government has a new solution to the sometimes deadly labor problem of extreme weather: national paid climate leave.RELATED:& The Urgency of Climate Action NowThe new law provides four days of paid leave to workers in the event of a weather emergency, with the option for employers to add additional days with reduced hours if necessary too. Spanish labor minister Yolanda Díaz...