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Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

reuters.com

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Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#31

Post by thr0wawayf00 »

fastball wrote: post #8
genocidicbunny wrote: post #5

Unfortunate that the title got cut off: "Six Amazon workers killed after tornadoes reduce warehouse near St. Louis to rubble" But the bigger story here is that despite multiple warnings of dangerous weather, the workers at this warehouse still ended up having to choose between risking their life or being fired/written up for refusing to come in. They didn't feel like they had the power to say "No, I won't work becaus…

> They didn't feel like they had the power to say You definitely don't know this. Please don't speak to the mindset of people that just died when you have no idea.

14 people died at an Amazon facility when they were asked to work during Hurricane Ida, why does this theory seem so far-fetched to you?

https://gizmodo.com/new-york-amazon-employees-had-to-work-du...

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#32

Post by sakopov »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #3

I slept through three tornado sirens last night. It was pretty wild. The first one, I thought it was a test. (We have tests every month on the 1st.) But it wasn't until a few minutes in that I realized it was for real. Then apparently I just... went to sleep? That wasn't the smartest decision I've ever made. It went off a couple more times. One strange thing was the realization that I had no idea where to turn for in…

I lived in Midwest for over 20 years. There were times when I'd be sipping coffee while sitting outside a coffee shop underneath giant funnel clouds above. Tornado alerts are common but touchdowns are so rare that you just kind of not pay attention anymore. With that said, it seems like when they do occur they are increasingly more damaging and closer to densely populated areas. Two years ago there was one just a few miles outside of Kansas City downtown. I remember hearing the next days in the news that it was nothing short of a miracle that it didn't move toward downtown and instead went off into the rural parts of the city.

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#33

Post by asdfasgasdgasdg »

ceejayoz wrote: post #18
asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you post some citation for these allegations? Maybe this is being widely reported and I've just missed it, but I'm not aware of positive evidence for the allegations you've made.

https://twitter.com/JonathanAhl/status/1469809376894541825 Governor says it happened during shift change. Active tornado warning in the area at the time.

I mean I get that they were at work. Shift change or whatever does not seem to make that big a difference. What's not clear to me is whether any of the workers were coerced to come in (i.e. they said they didn't want to and Amazon said they must regardless). And whether Amazon knew or ought to know that this would unacceptably increase the risk of harm (i.e. that a tornado was in fact likely and that being at work was much more dangerous than wherever else the workers might be).

I would also be interested in the standard practice at other workplaces in tornado alley. St Louis area gets four tornados a year on average, plus some additional number of warnings that don't end up being tornados. Is it the standard practice of workplaces to shut down in such situations? I don't remember tornado warnings being that big of a deal when I lived there but admittedly I was a dumb college kid at the time so what did I know.

I guess my point is that allegations of wrongdoing would seem to be very slightly jumping the gun in this situation. Plays well to a certain audience but there will be plenty of time for finger pointing once we know more.

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#34

Post by [deleted] »

genocidicbunny wrote: post #5

Unfortunate that the title got cut off: "Six Amazon workers killed after tornadoes reduce warehouse near St. Louis to rubble" But the bigger story here is that despite multiple warnings of dangerous weather, the workers at this warehouse still ended up having to choose between risking their life or being fired/written up for refusing to come in. They didn't feel like they had the power to say "No, I won't work becaus…

[deleted]

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#35

Post by fouc »

StevePerkins wrote: post #22
jazzyjackson wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if you live in tornado alley you ought to have an emergency radio, it at least gives you something to listen to while the power’s out https://www.amazon.com/Raynic-Emergency-Portable-Flashlight-...

There's something surreal about this being an Amazon link, for a customer in St. Louis.

Given the distance to warehouse, perhaps they could've ordered the radio after the first siren, and received it by the second siren. Guaranteed next-siren delivery.

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#37

Post by [deleted] »

genocidicbunny wrote: post #5

Unfortunate that the title got cut off: "Six Amazon workers killed after tornadoes reduce warehouse near St. Louis to rubble" But the bigger story here is that despite multiple warnings of dangerous weather, the workers at this warehouse still ended up having to choose between risking their life or being fired/written up for refusing to come in. They didn't feel like they had the power to say "No, I won't work becaus…

[deleted]

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#38

Post by hellbannedguy »

suqiifkfkg wrote: post #15

Are Amazon workers somehow special that they get upvoted on HN. What a bizarre, bizarre society we're living in.

No---Bezos is just irritating, and we are projecting our feelings on his company. A company we all buy from? (I believe most of these billionaires are irritating hypocrites, and not just Bozo. Don't get me started on Gate's tax dodging 501c3 that gives less than 1% back to the USA and was an added tax to every pc I bought through the years. Yes--no commas.)

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#39

Post by JCM9 »

genocidicbunny wrote: post #5

Unfortunate that the title got cut off: "Six Amazon workers killed after tornadoes reduce warehouse near St. Louis to rubble" But the bigger story here is that despite multiple warnings of dangerous weather, the workers at this warehouse still ended up having to choose between risking their life or being fired/written up for refusing to come in. They didn't feel like they had the power to say "No, I won't work becaus…

The article doesn’t support what you are saying. Do you have evidence to support these theories?

What happened is terrible and is part of a much broader natural disaster. Trying to turn this into some shallow Amazon shaming is unfortunate.

Re: Six dead after tornadoes destroy Amazon warehouse near St Louis

#40

Post by dessant »

wk_end wrote: post #26
barney54 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article doesn’t say that. Where’s an article that says they had to come in despite the dangerous storms?

Given the long history of labour abuse that's occurred on Amazon's watch at their warehouses and for their delivery drivers, at this point do they deserve the benefit of the doubt? Do you think these people came in to work at the warehouse while the weather reports blared tornado warnings out of love for their job and loyalty to Bezos?

Not sure why you're being downvoted, the events are already evidence that the facility was not shut down during a tornado that was known to hit the area. Workers were changing shifts when the tornadoes hit.
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