2021 Amazon warehouse collapse

About

On the evening of 2021-12-10 (Friday), a delivery warehouse owned and operated by Amazon.com in Edwardsville, Illinois was hit by a tornado – part of a [[wikipedia:Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021|cluster of tornadoes which hit the midwest throughout the evening and into the early morning – and collapsed, killing at least six workers there:

• Austin J. McEwen, 26
• Deandre S. Morrow, 28, of St. Louis, Missouri
• Kevin D. Dickey, 62, of Carlyle, Illinois
• Clayton Lynn Cope, 29, of Alton, Illinois
• Etheria S. Hebb, 24, of St. Louis, Missouri
• Larry E. Virden, 46, of Collinsville, Illinois
  • Before he died, he had texted his girlfriend: "Amazon won't let us leave."

Only 7 of 190 workers at the site were full-time staff, which is in line with Amazon's unspoken policy of depending heavily on contract labor in order to avoid liability and unionization.

A tornado warning was issued about half an hour before the incident, but Amazon executives instructed workers to take shelter and reportedly refused to allow them leave the site – which has also been a pattern for them.

Phone Policy

There have been repeated reports of workers being prohibited from carrying their phones in to work, which Amazon officials have denied. Lives may have been saved because several workers violated this policy. Whether or not there was such a policy, the fact that workers have been under the impression it exists suggests at best negligence on Amazon's part to clarify their actual policy, and at worst intentionally misleading workers.

Links

to file

• 2021-12-13
  • New York Times: At Amazon Site, Tornado Collided With Company’s Peak Delivery Season
    • «Only seven people at Amazon’s site were full-time employees, said a Madison County commissioner who declined to give his name.»
    • «Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokeswoman, said about 190 people worked at the delivery station across all of its shifts but declined to comment on how many were full-time workers. [...] Workers there sheltered in two places, she said, and one of those areas was directly struck. These areas are typically fortified, though it was unclear if they were built to withstand a direct tornado strike.»
    • «Amazon has said the contracting arrangement helps support small businesses that can hire in their communities. But industry consultants and Amazon employees directly involved in the program have said it lets the company avoid liability for accidents and other risks, and limits labor organizing in a heavily unionized industry.»
  • Reuters: Amazon driver died in bathroom sheltering from tornado with colleagues
  • Twitter thread: 2021-12-13 Horrifying details are emerging about the tornado disaster at Amazon's warehouse in Illinois (via)
  • CNBC: OSHA opens probe into deadly Amazon warehouse collapse in Illinois
• 2021-12-12 Business Insider: Amazon employees speak out against controversial phone ban after deadly tornado kills at least 6 warehouse workers in Edwardsville, Illinois
• 2021-12-11 Bloomberg: Deadly Collapse at Amazon Warehouse Puts Spotlight on Phone Ban «Amazon had for years prohibited workers from carrying their phones on warehouse floors, requiring them to leave them in vehicles or employee lockers before passing through security checks that include metal detectors. The company backed off during the pandemic, but has been gradually reintroducing it at facilities around the country.»