On the evening of December 10, local time, at least 30 deadly tornadoes were struck in the Midwest and Southern regions of the United States, which have killed nearly 100 people. U.S. President Joe Biden called the tornado "one of the worst tornado disasters in U.S. history." Among them, one of Amazon's warehouses in Illinois collapsed after being hit by a tornado, killing at least six employees.
According to foreign media reports, the tornado "collided" with the holiday shopping season, and the collapse of the Amazon warehouse quickly became the focus of public attention. The warehouse was destroyed at the end of a shift of a group of logistics and distribution drivers, and it was not clear how many people were trapped in the warehouse at that time. At the same time, the company's "mobile phone ban" has also been questioned by the outside world about whether it can ensure the safety of employees.
It was exposed that "employees are not allowed to carry mobile phones with them", and the victims may be killed due to missing weather warnings
At 8:27 p.m. local time on the 10th, the emergency management agency in Edwardsville, Illinois, reported that the tornado caused part of the roof of the Amazon express warehouse to collapse. A driver named Harris heard a loud noise at the delivery station after delivering a cart of courier packages, "I saw the wind blowing, debris flying everywhere, and it felt like the floor was going to leave the ground." People kept screaming and the lights went out. ”
The Amazon warehouse where the collapse occurred
Authorities said the six victims of the collapse ranged in age from 26 to 62. But there are reports that the retail giant has not been the first time an employee has died in a bad weather incident. Back in 2018, two workers in a warehouse in Baltimore were killed in a violent storm.
Although Amazon claims that the company's facilities are designed "in accordance with local weather conditions," questions about whether employees can receive bad weather warnings in a timely manner have sparked heated debate. After the collapse, according to the mother of one of the victimized employees, she had warned her son to "hurry up and take refuge" before the tornado struck, but he only replied "first to warn colleagues who do not know that the tornado is coming."
An employee who works at a nearby Amazon Express warehouse revealed that Amazon sometimes requires employees to keep their phones in their cars or lockers while they work, and the collapse raises doubts about whether company regulations are sufficient to ensure employee safety.
"After this casualty, I can never count on Amazon to keep me safe. If they forbade carrying mobile phones with them, I resigned. The employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the company's "mobile phone ban" could result in employees not being able to keep abreast of the upcoming bad weather.
After the collapse of the express warehouse, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said he felt "heartbroken," but he also stressed that "at least some people in the warehouse can get in touch with the outside world." Amazon employees and logistics drivers were allowed to carry mobile phones as the tornado hit. Amazon spokesman Nantel said alarms sounded 11 minutes before the tornado hit the delivery warehouse, helping some employees reach designated evacuation sites.
Tornadoes collided with the "peak delivery season" and rescue efforts at the scene of the accident became complicated
According to reports, the tornado hit during Amazon's peak delivery season. During the holiday shopping season, Amazon's share of online sales rises day by day. In order to ensure the on-time delivery of product packages, Amazon's labor force has also "peaked". The company hires hundreds of thousands of additional people during the shopping season, including full-time employees and contractors.
After the collapse of the delivery warehouse, aerial footage showed dozens of vans under the rubble, many of them bearing Amazon logos and some U-Hauls. Logistics contractors sometimes rent these vans to meet demand during peak logistics periods. It is reported that more than 250,000 logistics delivery drivers do not work directly for Amazon, but are employed by more than 3,000 contractor companies.
The peak period of supply also complicates the rescue work in the express warehouse. Authorities in Edwardsville said 45 employees of the delivery center had survived as of now. But the actual number of people in the facility at the time was "difficult" to count, as some of them were not regular full-time employees.
On the 12th, Amazon spokesperson Nanter said that there are about 190 employees on all shifts of the express delivery center, but she declined to say how many of them are full-time employees. An employee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that there were only 7 full-time employees in the courier warehouse where the accident occurred, and most of the young logistics drivers were employed by contractors. It is reported that when the tornado hit the delivery center, a group of logistics drivers ended their shifts. They were preparing to unload their packages from the van and go home from work, and the contract driver didn't need to clock back in the building.
According to statistics, Amazon has nearly 600 express delivery stations in the United States. Most logistics drivers work for other companies under a program called "Delivery Service Partners". Amazon says this contracting arrangement helps support small businesses in hiring employees within their communities. But industry consultants and Amazon employees directly involved in the plan say the program also avoids responsibility for accidents and other risks.
Red Star News reporter Wang Yalin Intern reporter Hu Yiling
Edited by Zhang Xun