Trades unions across Europe are pushing for new, legally binding laws to protect workers from heat stress, which is linked to an estimated 230 workplace deaths each year. The campaign, gathering pace during the sweltering summer of 2026, matters because global heating is intensifying — Europe is warming at twice the global average — leaving up to 130 million workers exposed to workplace heat stress and around 277,000 injured by it annually.

Unions want enforceable thermal limits based on the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), with work suspended beyond thresholds of 30C to 32.5C depending on intensity, plus rights to heat breaks, shade, water and adjusted hours, backed by sanctions for non-compliant employers. Three union groups representing 15 million workers support the proposed law, which could feature in the European Commission's forthcoming Quality Jobs Act, though it faces opposition from labour ministers in rightwing EU states favouring weaker recommendations. In the UK, the TUC is separately urging ministers to set a maximum working temperature, while a Heat Strike activist movement has stepped up protests.