Pearl River Let me assure you that ACORN is not ambulance chasing. We did a Beat the Heat Campaign in 2025 with a global day of action. This year, we set July 15th for ACORN’s Beat the Heat Day of Action months ago. Obviously, we suspected it would be warm. It is summer after all, so that is to be expected. Climate change is real. The globe is warming. None of that is news either. We had no way to know when choosing the date that in fact Britain, France, and Spain among other countries would have be in the midst of a record-breaking heat wave that reportedly already accounts for more than 500 dead in Britain, over a 1000 in France, and deadly fires in Spain with broiling heat throughout Europe. This wasn’t perfect timing or good luck on ACORN’s part. This is simply the way things are going to be, until we and others are able to change it.
This year, perhaps 50 cities participated in Beat the Heat Day, with over 45 already confirmed and several still in process. Furthermore, this was a culminating event of the campaign, not just one day of action. ACORN in Mumbai has been involved in a series of events for several weeks. ACORN affiliates based in Delhi have been doing actions and events with municipal governments throughout India for weeks in support of our members who are street vendors and food delivery gig workers as temperatures have surpassed 40 degrees Celsius. In some cities, we have demanded and won water stations, cooling areas, and breaks for all of these outdoor workers. In fact, almost half of the cities that showed out on Beat the Heat Day were in India, not only in Mumbai and Delhi, but also in Patna, Agra, Kolkata, Bhopal, Gaya, Ranchi, and more. A central national demand in India has been declaring heat a disaster along the same spectrum as floods and other natural events that trigger national economic aid and support.
ACORN Canada has also inspired and led ACORN’s heat campaign for years. In Hamilton and Toronto, we have pressed for several years for heat ordinances for tenants, and we won the first such bylaw in New Westminster earlier this year mandating cooling at fixed temperatures. We have won more than 1000 air conditioners in Toronto for elderly and other precarious tenants. Actions were held across Canada in Vancouver, Calgary, Peel, Ottawa, Halifax, London, Moncton, and other cities. News reports were out across the country via the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In Paris, Grenoble, and Lyon, ACORN members demanded fans and shutters in France. Our report was released in Cameroon, Kenya, Scotland, and England.
In New Orleans, ACORN’s ACV brought together more than 20 members to meet with two city council people, one school board member, and our Anthropocene Alliance allies to demand warning sirens for flooding from unusually heavy rains prompted by increased heat in the area. In the 2025 campaign, New Orleans with Local 100 had won heat protections for contract workers with the City of New Orleans. In 2026, ACORN won commitments from the council to advance the warning and preparation programs. Four television stations broadcast news of the event and the campaign. Actions in the US also occurred in Cleveland and Little Rock.
If there were 25 city actions last year and 50 this year, there could be 100s next year. This is a public and community health issue. This is a climate issue. People are dying. ACORN can’t end this campaign until we win.