The Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union has criticized e-commerce giant Amazon, saying that workers should never have been asked to work during severe weather conditions that resulted in the roof of an Illinois warehouse collapsing, killing at least six workers.
Business Insider reports that Stuart Appelbaum, the head of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union, has heavily criticized Amazon after the roof of an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, collapsed last week killing at least six workers.
This Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, satellite photo provided by Maxar shows a close-up of an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Ill., after severe storms moved through the area late the previous evening, causing catastrophic damage. (Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies via AP)
The collapse was reportedly caused by severe weather and high winds. Appelbaum criticized Amazon for asking workers to continue to work during the storm, stating:
Time and time again Amazon puts its bottom line above the lives of its employees. Requiring workers to work through such a major tornado warning event as this was inexcusable.
This is another outrageous example of the company putting profits over the health and safety of their workers, and we cannot stand for this. Amazon cannot continue to be let off the hook for putting hard working people’s lives at risk. Our union will not back down until Amazon is held accountable for these and so many more dangerous labor practices.
An Amazon spokesperson told the Associated Press that when one of its facilities is notified of a tornado warning, all of its employees are directed to move to a shelter. However, the spokesperson declined to answer when asked by AP if and when it warned employees at the Edwardsville facility of last week’s weather warning.
The Edwardsville facility collapse has also reignited the debate around Amazon workers’ access to their smartphones. For years Amazon prohibited workers from carrying their phones on warehouse floors, requiring that they be left in vehicles or employee lockers. During the pandemic, this rule was loosened but has been reinforced throughout facilities in recent months.
Five Amazon employees, including two who work directly across the street from the Edwardsville facility, have stated that they want access to their smartphones in order to get information and updates on potentially weather events and not rely on the company to inform them of possible danger.
“I don’t trust them with my safety to be quite frank,” one worker said. “If there’s severe weather on the way, I think I should be able to make my own decision about safety.”
Read more at Business Insider here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com