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>Were there no warnings for the severe weather storm that would have prevented people coming in to work or allowed them to leave work early? There were warning

>Were there no warnings for the severe weather storm that would have prevented people coming in to work or allowed them to leave work early? There were warnings. Warnings that skipping work would get one fired[1]. And since the warehouse was not closed that day, the warning was: clock in on time, or else, weather be damned. >When I was working in the office... Well there's a difference between how office employees are treated, and how warehouse employees are treated. >Why doesn’t Amazon.... Because they can. And that, because their workforce isn't unionized and doesn't have the collective bargaining power to get what Amazon should give them. [1]https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/24/technology/amazon-employee-leave-errors.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/24/technology/amazon-employe...

camhart 5y ago
Your article is over a month old...
- Sebguer 5y ago
  Do you think Amazon has changed its labor practices in the last month? The OP's point is that warehouse employees don't have the option to not show up.
  - camhart 5y ago
    With tornados you don't have a long heads up. You normally know there's a bad storm coming and that's it. It's not until the sirens go off that everyone stops what they're doing. Everybody in that town most likely went to work that day.
    - truculent 5y ago
      Is it commonplace in such areas for workplaces to have plans for such an event? Tornado shelters?
      - camhart 5y ago
        Shelters no, at least not in my experience (lived in Illinois). But knowing of a more safe place in the building. For example, my high school had us go into the inner hallways and sit down against the walls.
        truculent 5y ago
        Presumably this wouldn’t go any better than it did for the Amazon employees when facing a tornado of the strength being talked about in the original post?
vkou 5y ago
Given Amazon's track record with warehouses, I expect surviving staff will be provided with the opportunity to take an unpaid day off to grieve.
Moru 5y ago
And because we keep buying from Amazon no matter what.
- Hokusai 5y ago
  The solution is regulations and unions. If it's not Amazon it will be something else. Many people do not have time or money to look for alternatives. I never buy on Amazon but directly from the providers, but that takes time that I have but many people does not.
  - wolverine876 5y ago
    > If it's not Amazon it will be something else. Companies do vary in how they treat their workers. Some are unionized.
- makeitdouble 5y ago
  “Vote with your wallet” principles are relevant when it comes to toxic social behavior only if you’re actually paying activists/lobbyists. Otherwise pushing for the rules to be properly enforced and/or to change for the better should be where efforts go.
- TomSwirly 5y ago
  Speak for yourself. I haven't done business with them in almost a decade. The last several years, since their prices went up, I've been saving money doing so.
  - Moru 5y ago
    Well, we is a figure of speech in this case, I haven't bought anything there. I'm very anti-anti unions.
Cookingboy 5y ago
Honestly you sound like one of those armchair analysts from California who have no idea what weather even is. The warnings for tornado touchdowns are minutes at best. Businesses don't shut down whenever there is a bad storm with the possibility of tornado. It happens way too frequently for that to be practical.
- wolverine876 5y ago
  What does California have to do with it?
- romwell 5y ago
  What's up with justifying corporate manslaughter? Also yay for assuming. The point here was that employees who knew better didn't have an option to say, shit, it's not looking good, it's too risky to come to work / stay at work. And at least one person died because of that[2]. For the record, my partner used to live in Kansas, I've spent a fair amount of time there (years, months at a time). K-State campus, where she was working, was hit by a tornado during that time. I know what a tornado siren sounds like. My mother lives in Kentucky now; luckily, way North of where the damage was. I've spent about half of my adult life in Texas, driving through OK more times than I can remember on I-35. I'm aware of the measures that can be taken to ensure safety in case of a tornado. Like, having a tornado shelter, or not cheaping out on construction. And perhaps allowing people to leave work early without punishing them if they feel scared enough. As for warning time, Amazon got between 11 and 21 minutes of lead time[1]. Enough time to walk a mile, or drive 15. Amazon then ordered people to stay at the facility[2], and directed them to "shelter in place" in bathrooms, where some of them met their death[1]. Specifically, the person in [2] clearly "had an idea about what weather even is", and had enough time to get home safely. He is dead now. But hey, it's practical. [1] https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/amazon-driver-died-bathroom-sheltering-tornado-with-colleagues-2021-12-12/ https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/amazon-driver-di... [2] https://nypost.com/2021/12/12/amazon-worker-texted-girlfriend-he-wasnt-allowed-to-leave-warehouse/ https://nypost.com/2021/12/12/amazon-worker-texted-girlfrien...
  - Cookingboy 5y ago
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
bmitc 5y ago
All of that was my point.
- romwell 5y ago
  Sure, I just felt like answering the rhetorical questions explicitly for anyone who's skimming for the sake of clarity.
  - bmitc 5y ago
    Gotcha!

camhart 5y ago

Your article is over a month old...

Sebguer 5y ago
Do you think Amazon has changed its labor practices in the last month? The OP's point is that warehouse employees don't have the option to not show up.
- camhart 5y ago
  With tornados you don't have a long heads up. You normally know there's a bad storm coming and that's it. It's not until the sirens go off that everyone stops what they're doing. Everybody in that town most likely went to work that day.
  - truculent 5y ago
    Is it commonplace in such areas for workplaces to have plans for such an event? Tornado shelters?
    - camhart 5y ago
      Shelters no, at least not in my experience (lived in Illinois). But knowing of a more safe place in the building. For example, my high school had us go into the inner hallways and sit down against the walls.
      - truculent 5y ago
        Presumably this wouldn’t go any better than it did for the Amazon employees when facing a tornado of the strength being talked about in the original post?

vkou 5y ago

Given Amazon's track record with warehouses, I expect surviving staff will be provided with the opportunity to take an unpaid day off to grieve.

Moru 5y ago

And because we keep buying from Amazon no matter what.

Hokusai 5y ago
The solution is regulations and unions. If it's not Amazon it will be something else. Many people do not have time or money to look for alternatives. I never buy on Amazon but directly from the providers, but that takes time that I have but many people does not.
- wolverine876 5y ago
  > If it's not Amazon it will be something else. Companies do vary in how they treat their workers. Some are unionized.
makeitdouble 5y ago
“Vote with your wallet” principles are relevant when it comes to toxic social behavior only if you’re actually paying activists/lobbyists. Otherwise pushing for the rules to be properly enforced and/or to change for the better should be where efforts go.
TomSwirly 5y ago
Speak for yourself. I haven't done business with them in almost a decade. The last several years, since their prices went up, I've been saving money doing so.
- Moru 5y ago
  Well, we is a figure of speech in this case, I haven't bought anything there. I'm very anti-anti unions.

Cookingboy 5y ago

Honestly you sound like one of those armchair analysts from California who have no idea what weather even is. The warnings for tornado touchdowns are minutes at best. Businesses don't shut down whenever there is a bad storm with the possibility of tornado. It happens way too frequently for that to be practical.

wolverine876 5y ago
What does California have to do with it?
romwell 5y ago
What's up with justifying corporate manslaughter? Also yay for assuming. The point here was that employees who knew better didn't have an option to say, shit, it's not looking good, it's too risky to come to work / stay at work. And at least one person died because of that[2]. For the record, my partner used to live in Kansas, I've spent a fair amount of time there (years, months at a time). K-State campus, where she was working, was hit by a tornado during that time. I know what a tornado siren sounds like. My mother lives in Kentucky now; luckily, way North of where the damage was. I've spent about half of my adult life in Texas, driving through OK more times than I can remember on I-35. I'm aware of the measures that can be taken to ensure safety in case of a tornado. Like, having a tornado shelter, or not cheaping out on construction. And perhaps allowing people to leave work early without punishing them if they feel scared enough. As for warning time, Amazon got between 11 and 21 minutes of lead time[1]. Enough time to walk a mile, or drive 15. Amazon then ordered people to stay at the facility[2], and directed them to "shelter in place" in bathrooms, where some of them met their death[1]. Specifically, the person in [2] clearly "had an idea about what weather even is", and had enough time to get home safely. He is dead now. But hey, it's practical. [1] https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/amazon-driver-died-bathroom-sheltering-tornado-with-colleagues-2021-12-12/ https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/amazon-driver-di... [2] https://nypost.com/2021/12/12/amazon-worker-texted-girlfriend-he-wasnt-allowed-to-leave-warehouse/ https://nypost.com/2021/12/12/amazon-worker-texted-girlfrien...
- Cookingboy 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

bmitc 5y ago

All of that was my point.

romwell 5y ago
Sure, I just felt like answering the rhetorical questions explicitly for anyone who's skimming for the sake of clarity.
- bmitc 5y ago
  Gotcha!