Can't Stand the Heat? Get Out of the Kitchen: How Extreme Weather Impacts Food Service Workers in British Columbia


Jen Kostuchuk, University of Victoria

British Columbia (B.C.) has experienced record-breaking temperatures, destructive flooding, and devastating wildfire activity. In my recent community-engaged research with a non-profit worker advocacy group, food industry workers described these conditions as “abusive”, “dehumanizing”, and “purgatory”. Food service work is highly gendered, racialized, and largely unprotected meaning that workers experience job insecurity through low unionization rates, poor wages, and fear of retaliation for speaking up against labour violations. Between cooking in front of hot grills during heatwaves, serving on outdoor patios during wildfires, and cycling to deliver takeout orders during floods, food service workers are hit hard by climate change. During last year’s deathly heat dome, WorkSafeBC received a 180 per cent increase in worker claims; over one-third of these were related to the dangers of high temperatures experienced by workers indoors (WorkSafeBC, 2022). Existing research underscores the significant impact of extreme weather on outdoor workers. But less is understood about the impact of events such as extreme heat on indoor workers. The guiding research questions for this project included: how do extreme weather events impact those in food service work and what are the key changes needed to secure the heath and safety of low-wage, precarious workers? Data was collected from 31 food service workers across B.C. through a survey and in-depth, semi-structured interviews. These workers fulfilled barista, cook, dishwasher, hostess, server, and fast-food positions. The findings suggest that employment conditions and working conditions worsen during extreme weather events but building worker solidarity is essential to living through the climate crisis. Participants have identified nine specific policy recommendations ranging from maximum working temperature to climate-paid leave as critical solutions to ensuring health and safety during extreme weather. In this presentation, I will reflect on the current prospects for food service workers and the labour movement at large to engage in the kind of collective action required to push governments to adopt these kinds of policies.

This paper will be presented at the following session: