As temperatures in Portland, Oregon, surged to an all-time high of 116 degrees Fahrenheit last week, some on-duty workers at the famous Voodoo Doughnut shop staged a walkout. Attempts to mitigate the effects of the heat — wet towels, chilled Gatorade and shifting production hours to cooler times of the day — were unsuccessful and some employees reported feeling nauseous and shaky, especially when working by the fryers.
According to Samantha Bryce, a Voodoo Doughnut employee and organizer of Voodoo Doughnut’s workers union, Doughnut Workers United, employees approached the shop’s general manager June 27 once temperatures within the shop reached