America’s houseplants come at a steep price for greenhouse workers

Activists with the labor group WeCount delivered petitions to Costa Farms, the world's largest houseplant grower, at nurseries in North Carolina and Florida, demanding guaranteed water, shade, and paid breaks during extreme heat. The campaign follows the collapse of a Miami-Dade heat standard effort after Florida passed a law in 2024 preempting local heat regulations, a move Governor Ron DeSantis defended as avoiding ‘a lot of problems.’ Agricultural workers, including nursery employees, are excluded from federal collective bargaining protections and are more than 35 times likelier to die from heat-related illness than workers in other fields.

Costa Farms told Grist it has won awards for workplace protections and operates a heat policy aligned with proposed OSHA rules, including an on-site medical clinic and daily safety briefings after Hurricane Helene. But nursery worker Alejandro Gonzales described working through days over 110 degrees Fahrenheit with no cold or clean water and no breaks or shade, and organizers said workers have reported chemically smelling or moldy water at hydration stations the company cites as evidence of its policy.

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