[ [link removed] ]An image of the destroyed Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois
after the tornado.

John,

“Amazon won’t let us leave.” This text was sent by one of the six workers
who were killed this past weekend when Amazon failed to prioritize
workers’ safety in the tornado that hit its Edwardsville, Illinois
warehouse.^1,2 Rather than allowing workers to shelter at home, Amazon
penalized workers who could not make their shifts due to the tornado and
prohibited workers in the warehouse from having their cell phones on them,
preventing them from receiving what could have been live saving alerts
about the incoming tornado. In the aftermath, Amazon forced workers from
the other warehouses at the site to show up to work the next day, even as
rescue teams continued to search for survivors in the rubble.^3,4 

We cannot wait on labor regulations to be passed to protect Amazon
laborers and helpers—workers we know are disproportionately Black people
and people of color—from preventable loss of life like this.^5 So Color Of
Change is demanding Amazon immediately implement protections for its
workers. Amazon must: 

* Cancel worker shifts when there are natural disaster alerts
* Allow workers to have their phones for emergencies during shifts
* Reverse penalizations for employees who could not work due to the
tornado
* Add tornado sirens inside Amazon warehouses located in tornado-prone
areas

[ [link removed] ]TELL AMAZON TO PUT PEOPLE OVER PROFITS

Amazon is powered by its workers, but this climate disaster may point to a
greater problem with safety protections for Amazon workers. It is the
second largest private employer in the U.S., and it pressures its workers
to fulfill 2-day orders at the cost of their safety.^6-8 Amazon drivers
are forced to deliver to several addresses in one stop, which sometimes
means workers must endanger themselves by crossing highways.^9 And when
Black workers tried to organize for safer working conditions, Amazon
busted up their organizing efforts.^10 In response to the recent tornado,
Amazon claimed it did not know it had workers in its Edwardsville
warehouse.^11 But Amazon vigilantly controls both warehouse and delivery
lines, oversurveils, overworks, and underpays its warehouse and delivery
workers, many of whom are Black.^12 Even when there are not climate change
disasters, Amazon warehouse workers experience twice the serious injuries
than non-Amazon warehouse workers according to 2020 numbers.^13 Therefore,
we are demanding they implement protocols to protect their workers.

Amazon is continually prioritizing profits over people. But rather than
use the billions of dollars he has to provide a safe workplace for
employees, Amazon founder and former CEO, Jeff Bezos, used his billions to
launch himself into space, as evidenced by Amazon’s trending news on the
day of the tornado.^14,15 In doing so, Amazon shows us what it really
cares about; it is not empowering small businesses, or protecting its
warehouse workers. Their priority is lining their executives’ pockets. But
it’s time for that to change—Black workers’ lives depend on it.

[ [link removed] ]TELL AMAZON TO IMPLEMENT SAFETY PROTECTIONS FOR WORKERS

Until justice is real,

—Jade Magnus Ogunnaike

References

 1. Richa Naidu, “Six dead, no hope of more survivors after tornadoes
destroy Amazon warehouse,” Reuters, December 11, 2021,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
 2. [ [link removed] ][link removed]
 3. [ [link removed] ][link removed] 
 4. [ [link removed] ][link removed] 
 5. Jodi Kantor, Karen Weise, and Grace Ashford, “The Amazon That
Customers Don’t See,” New York Times, June 15, 2021,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 6. April Glaser, “Amazon now employs almost 1 million people in the
U.S.—or 1 in every 169 workers,” NBC News, July 30, 2021,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
 7. Michael Sainato, “14-Hour Days and No Bathroom Breaks: Amazon’s
Overworked Delivery Drivers,” The Guardian, March 11, 2021,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
 8. Alexia Fernández Campbell, “The Problem with Amazon’s Speedy Shipping,
in One Graphic,” Vox, October 18, 2019,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
 9. Lauren Kaori Gurley, “Amazon’s cost saving routing algorithm makes
drivers walk into traffic,” Vice, June 2, 2021, 
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
10. Jay Greene, “Amazon’s anti-union blitz stalks Alabama warehouse
workers everywhere, even in the bathroom,” The Washington Post,
February 2, 2021,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
11. Ibid.
12. “Report Update | Eyes Everywhere: Amazon’s Worker Surveillance
Continued,” Open Markets Institute, September 23, 2021,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
13. Jay Greene and Chris Alcantara, “Amazon warehouse workers suffer
serious injuries at higher rates than other firms,” The Washington
Post, June 1, 2021,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
14. Ben Gilbert, “Jeff Bezos thanks Amazon employees and customers paying
for his jaunt to space: ‘You guys paid for all of this’,” Business
Insider, July 20, 2021,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
15. Zahra Tayeb, “Jeff Bezos criticized for celebrating Blue Origin launch
before addressing Amazon warehouse collapse,” Business Insider,
December 12, 2021,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]



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