Amazon: We are not disposable. We demand worker safety.
Jeff Bezos and Andy Jassy
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On December 10, a deadly tornado hit the Amazon DIL4 delivery station in Edwardsville, Illinois killing six workers. In the days and weeks following the deadly storm, troubling information has come to light raising important questions and concerns about Amazon’s failure to keep workers safe. Workers at the facility have reported that they had not been adequately trained on emergency procedures and that the company failed to warn them about the tornado, even as it approached.
Inside the facility, workers were unable to access warnings from the National Weather Service because Amazon prohibits workers from carrying cell phones while on shift. Amazon delivery drivers who were on the road did receive the NWS warnings but cell phone records show that managers ignored drivers’ pleas to seek shelter, ordering them to stay on the road as weather conditions worsened.
Amazon has a responsibility to provide workers with a safe and healthy workplace. On December 10, 2021 Amazon failed to live up to that responsibility and 6 workers were killed. Unfortunately, while this tragedy was particularly devastating, it was not an isolated incident. Amazon’s own data shows that the injury rates at Amazon are double those at warehouses run by other companies. In 2020, 704 Amazon employees in Illinois alone experienced lost-time injuries forcing them to miss a total of 33,954 days away from work.
The epidemic of workplace injuries and deaths at Amazon is unacceptable. Amazon must provide transparency to regulators to help us all fully understand what happened and transform its workplace practices to ensure that tragedies like these never happen again.
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» Cooperation
Amazon must fully cooperate with the ongoing OSHA investigation into this tragedy as well as any other investigations by local, state, or federal agencies. A full investigation of this tragedy should include an investigation of health, safety, and emergency preparedness practices at the DLI4 delivery station that was hit by the tornado as well as the other Amazon facilities in the area, especially the much larger STL4 fulfillment center across the street, to ensure workers’ safety is prioritized.
» Protection
Workers must have the ability to share their concerns about health and safety or working conditions more broadly with their co-workers, regulatory agencies, and organizations in their communities. Amazon must publicly commit that it will not retaliate against workers for speaking out about their working conditions or organizing with their co-workers. Amazon should also end the punitive high-pressure management practices that lead to these safety and health crises. This includes meeting workers' long-time demand to end the arbitrary quotas, continuous surveillance, and constant thread of discipline and firing.
» Compliance
This is not the first disaster to hit an Amazon facility and it will likely not be the last. Amazon must implement proper protocols for keeping workers and contractors safe during health, severe weather and other emergencies. Amazon must comply with public health and safety guidance by providing workers and contractors with appropriate training and protective equipment, eliminating hazards, and communicating with workers about potential hazards.
» Worker Communication
In times of emergencies, cell phones are an essential tool for receiving information and alerts from authorities, communications with emergency services, and contact with family members. Amazon must permanently end its ban on cell phones in its workplaces.
» Right to Refuse
Amazon workers around the country have reported that they have been directed by management to continue working in unsafe conditions. Amazon workers and contractors must have the authority to stop or refuse work assignments that they reasonably believe pose a serious risk of injury, illness or death to themselves or their coworkers. Workers must be able to exercise this authority without threats of discipline or other adverse consequences.