Clocking off: Japan’s hotter summers put limit on outdoor work

Japan Times,

For workers who don’t get to benefit from Japan’s numerous air-conditioned spaces — builders, delivery personnel, farmers and many more besides — even an array of gadgets such as cooling-fan jackets are not necessarily enough to help them persevere through increasingly hot summers. That, in turn, is putting businesses in a tough spot as they try to balance productivity and safety.

One of Japan’s most prominent construction projects, located on an artificial island in Osaka Bay, is a case in point.

Following record high temperatures last summer, in a statement the Kansai branch of the National Federation of Construction Workers’ Unions (Zenkensoren) raised concerns that “there have been frequent cases of people transported to hospital due to heatstroke” at the 2025 Osaka Expo construction site on Yumeshima island. NHK reported eight suspected heatstroke cases at the expo site in the six months through September 2023.

At the same time, construction of the expo’s overseas pavilions is reportedly delayed, and union representatives say they’ve heard from workers that at the current rate of progress the expo site won’t be ready in time for the April opening.

All of this has been unfolding under sweltering conditions that feel “totally different” compared with previous decades, says Satoru Takyu, general manager of Zenkensoren’s labor policy department.

As climate change brings increasingly hot summers to Japan, those working outdoors or in hot indoor environments are at particular risk of heat stress, which can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness and muscle pain, and adversely affect mental health. Severe cases of heatstroke can result in permanent disability or death.

Germany’s far-right party AfD set to win one state election, and is level in another, exit polls show

BerlinCNN —

For the first time since 1945 a German far-right party is projected to win in regional elections, exit polls show.

Founded in 2013, far-right Alternative für Deutschland – or Alternative for Germany (AfD) – is on track to claim victory in state parliamentary elections in the country’s eastern region of Thuringia, initial exit polls by German state broadcaster ZDF show.

AfD is projected to get 33.5% of the vote, well ahead of the conservative party Christian Democrats (CDU) with 24.5%, according to ZDF.

In Saxony, which also held a regional election Sunday, the two parties are neck and neck, according to state broadcaster ZDF.

Newly founded left-wing party, the Sarah Wagenknecht alliance – or BSW – looks to be coming in third in both Thuringia and Saxony, where roughly 1.7 million people and 3.3 million were eligible to vote, respectively

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) is projected to get disappointing results in both states.

The local elections results in Thuringia and Saxony are seen by many as a litmus test for Scholz and his coalition partners ahead of next year’s general elections. While the AfD has put immigration front and center of its agenda, the coalition built by Scholz is creaking, with infighting, disagreements about policy and accusations that elected officials no longer represent the values they were initially elected for.

10,000 US hotel workers strike as contract talks break down

NEW YORK, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Some 10,000 U.S. hotel workers began a multi-day strike in several cities on Sunday after contract talks with hotel operators Marriott International (MAR.O) , Hilton Worldwide (HLT.N) , and Hyatt Hotels (H.N)  reached an impasse, the Unite Here union said.

Unite Here, which represents workers in hotels, casinos, and airports across the United States and Canada, said thousands of workers at 25 hotels are on strike in some major travel destinations including San Francisco and San Diego in California, Hawaii’s capital city Honolulu, Boston, Seattle, and Greenwich, Connecticut, with workers from additional cities ready to join the walkout as the Labor Day holiday weekend continues.

The strike is taking place with the industry facing a 9% increase in Labor Day weekend domestic travel compared to last year, according to AAA booking data.

“Strikes have also been authorized and could begin at any time” in Baltimore, New Haven, Oakland, and Providence, the union said in a statement, as hotel workers and operators struggle to agree on wages and on reversing pandemic-era job cuts.

Hotel workers are being stretched thin, according to the union, with management frequently assigning three staff members to do the job of four. This leads to undue stress and a focus on speed over service.