Jasmine Granillo was 11 years old when her family joined other workers in a “thirst strike”—a protest in which participants decline to drink water—on the steps of Dallas City Hall in 2015. For a full day, Jasmine’s father Gustavo Granillo went thirsty to draw attention to the death of his 25-year-old son Roendy Granillo and pressure the city to pass a water break mandate to protect construction workers from heat illnesses. Roendy had died three months earlier from heat stroke after reportedly being denied a break at a residential construction job. After the action, Jasmine and her family continued their activism with the worker rights organization Workers Defense Project, protesting and speaking to city council members. By the end of the year, Dallas passed an ordinance mandating that construction laborers receive a 10-minute rest break every four hours, a policy similar to one passed by Austin five years prior.
To view the full story, visit https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-workers-congress-thirst-strike/