Richard Moorhead | Dec 14, 2021
Managers for Big Tech megacorporation Amazon forced warehouse workers to remain on the job in an Illinois warehouse as lethal tornadoes rolled across large portions of the state, with a text message from one worker who died in a warehouse collapse indicating his overseers forced him to remain at the facility.
Larry Virden, an Iraq War veteran and a father of four children, died in a collapse of the Edwardsville, Illinois Amazon warehouse as a result of brutal tornadoes that battered Illinois and Kentucky on Friday evening. Six Amazon workers died during the warehouse collapse, fatalities that could’ve been easily avoided by sending workers home that evening.
In particularly disturbing fashion, Virden’s girlfriend has published text messages from the father in which he reveals Amazon managers forced the workers to stay at the Edwardsville facility as tornadoes came rolling in.
The Facebook message Virden sent his girlfriend Cherie Jones was sent under 20 minutes before tornadoes hit Edwardsville. Workers had to evacuate the warehouse as the severity of the tornadoes became clear, with authorities finding six deceased during recovery operations the next day.
In spite of mainstream media fixation on the company, Amazon is widely known throughout the democratic world as one of the most unethical and greedy large employers, with workers routinely suffering injuries and subjected to unsafe conditions at its warehouses. OHSA and the state of Illinois are conducting an investigation into the tragedy, but initial descriptions make it seem as if they’re investigating the structural faults of the warehouse rather than unsafe labor practices.
Friday night’s tornadoes were most felt in Kentucky, with current estimates indicating the state suffered from more than 70 fatalities in one of the most deadly natural disasters in the state’s history.
In all fairness, regardless of where these employees were when the tornadoes hit, they could have been in mortal danger. Unless they were in a basement or possibly a saferoom, their lives could have been taken.
My neighbor built a new home and part of the construction was a saferoom. Concrete block walls and then cement was poured into each of the walls from above. Of course, if they aren’t literally in the saferoom should we get hit by an enormous tornado, then the saferoom isn’t much good, is it? Remember years ago about the Ebola scare? Someone asked if we were going to build a shelter. I asked how one would hermetically seal it so no pathogen could enter and one could still breathe. Crickets. You do the best you can to be as safe as you can within the realistic parameters of your situation.
I’ve read that the wealthy are building elite mansion bunkers in New Zealand. Anywhere from $3 to $8Milllion. Kudos to them.
One reply on “UNETHICAL: Amazon Forced Workers to Stay at Illinois Warehouse as Lethal Tornadoes Hit”
Well, well, so Amazon wasn’t the only company to tell their employees to stay.
Kentucky Candle Factory Employees Reportedly Told They’d Be Fired If They Left Work Ahead Of Deadly Tornado | The Daily Wire
Amazon Worker Killed In Warehouse Collapse Was Reportedly Told Not To Leave | The Daily Wire
“He always tells me when he is filling up the Amazon truck when he is getting ready to go back… I was like ‘OK, I love you.’ He’s like, ‘Well, Amazon won’t let me leave until after the storm blows over,’” Jones told the paper.
Jones said she got that message about 8:23 p.m. Officials say the tornado touched down some 16 minutes later.
“We heard the tornado didn’t touch down until 8:39 so he had 20 minutes to get home,” Jones also told the Post. “I messaged him and that was the last text message I got from him. I told him where we live, it was only lightning at the time. After that, I got nothing from him.”
Asked if she blames Amazon for her boyfriend’s death, Jones said: “Not really. But it’s that what-if situation: What if they would have let him leave? He could have made it home.”
Amazon has been in full damage control since the tornado ripped through its warehouse, donating $1 million to the Edwardsville Community Foundation. The company said it is also contacting victims’ families to offer help.
“We’re deeply saddened by the news that members of our Amazon family passed away as a result of the storm in Edwardsville, IL. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their loved ones, and everyone impacted by the tornado. We also want to thank all the first responders for their ongoing efforts on scene,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement Sunday. “We’re continuing to provide support to our employees and partners in the area.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on Monday launched an investigation into the collapse of the Amazon facility. Six people died and at least one was injured after the tornado hit the 1.1-million-square-foot delivery center on Friday, according to officials.