In a statement issued to mark International Workers’ Memorial Day (IWMD), trade union Unite called on the government to introduce new protections for workers during and after extreme weather events.

Earlier this year, Unite launched a new policy toolkit, In the Eye of the Storm. The document includes a summary of responses to a survey of Unite members carried out in the wake of Storm Éowyn in January 2025 together with a set of proposals designed to protect workers’ health, safety and incomes during and in the immediate aftermath of extreme weather events.  Unite’s plan also includes proposals to protect workers from extreme temperature events.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “The evidence is clear: climate breakdown means that workers will be dealing with more frequent and severe extreme weather events. The government must move now to ensure that our health and safety legislation keep pace with the science.”

Unite has identified a raft of legal protections for workers, including four days’ paid climate leave, economy-wide weather-alert based response protocols (where red alerts mean all but essential workers stay at home and amber alerts mean no inessential work is done outdoors), upper limits to working temperatures and mandatory extreme weather  workplace risk assessments.

The union’s Irish secretary Susan Fitzgerald said: “Extreme weather poses increasing risk to workers – both while in work or when travelling. This International Workers’ Memorial Day, we have a clear message for government: We need to see legislation to offer real protections to workers – laws that will allow unions to protect our members in these extreme events.”