Media that empowers working people – that's how we build a More Perfect Union.

Don't Miss a Video!

Access our exclusive reporting and rapid response actions directly in your inbox, so you don’t miss a beat in the fight for working people nationwide.

Be a part of a community backing up independent journalism with action.

Ideas

Have a story to tell or idea to share?
Email [email protected]
© 2021 More Perfect Union Action

Together we can build power for working people.

We’re asking questions that really matter, and telling the stories of people who really need to be seen and heard.

You can support our work by donating today.

Amount

Make It Monthly

Don't Miss a Video!

Access our exclusive reporting and rapid response actions directly in your inbox, so you don’t miss a beat in the fight for working people nationwide.

Be a part of a community backing up independent journalism with action.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Culpable for Deaths of Six Warehouse Workers, New Evidence Reveals

Building support beams weren’t anchored to the ground, a violation of international building code, which lead to the deadly warehouse collapse.

YouTube Thumbnail

New evidence reveals Amazon’s culpability for the deaths of 6 workers in a warehouse collapse last year in Edwardsville, Illinois. Documents obtained by More Perfect Union show that the support beams in Amazon’s warehouse weren’t anchored to the ground — a grave violation of international building code. 

When a tornado struck the Amazon facility on December 10, 2021, the warehouse collapsed killing six people. One of them was a 26-year-old delivery driver named Austin McEwin. The McEwin family has since filed a lawsuit against Amazon, and is represented by Jack Casciato of Clifford Law Offices. The attorneys on this case filed a FOIA with the West County EMS & Fire Protection District, and learned that the support beams in the warehouse were not properly anchored to the ground, violating international building code and leading to the deadly collapse.

“Looking at the base of the columns more closely, I could find no weld or bolted connection at the base of any column,” reads the report. “An examination of several of the empty pockets where columns once stood also did not reveal any indication of positive securement of the columns at or below the finished floor level.”

West County EMS & Fire Report, December 10, 2021

The investigation also revealed that Amazon began receiving severe weather warnings about an impending tornado near Edwardsville as early as December 9, 2021, a full day before the tornado struck. Instead of sending workers home, Amazon forced workers to stay through the storm, placing profits over people and costing six workers their lives. 

The Amazon facility in Edwardsville — in tornado alley — had no FEMA safe-rooms in the building. Instead, Amazon provided a “Take Shelter Area”, which survivors described as a “windowless hallway” and that Amazon said themselves was not designed to be a storm shelter. 

“If Amazon knew that it couldn’t protect its employees, there was nothing stopping them from telling them around noon or 1 that day to go home, seek refuge,” said Casciato. “And you really have to question if profits took precedence over safety.”

Jeff Bezos called the building collapse “tragic” in a tweet, but did not take the time to visit the Edwardsville facility or console the families of the victims. Austin’s family hopes that the lawsuit will bring not only justice and accountability, but for the multi-billion dollar corporation to start treating their workers appropriately.

Related Stories

YouTube Thumbnail
Amazon Is Covering Up Worker Deaths
Read More
Amazon Worker Killed In Deadly Tornado Wasn’t Allowed to Leave the Warehouse
Read More

The Latest

YouTube Thumbnail
What Scorpion Venom Has To Do With Amazon’s Monopoly
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
Our Camera Footage Got Raided. You Won’t Believe Why.
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
Michigan’s Bold New Solution to High Drug Prices
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
Why U.S. Hospitals Are Closing At An Alarming Rate
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
We Went to the Most Unequal Place in America
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
Big Pharma’s 20-Year War On America
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
Whistleblower Exposes Health Insurance Companies’ Most Evil Scheme
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
What Disney Doesn’t Want You to Know About Visual Effects
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
Inside the Exploitation at Vegas’s MGM and Caesar’s Palace
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
How Four Companies Took Over Our Food Supply
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
How Internet Companies like Verizon And Comcast Abandoned Rural America
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
What Nestle and Abbott Don’t Want You to Know
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
Trump Could Lose These Voters. Here’s Why.
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
Chicago’s Radical Solution For Broken Tipping Culture
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
The Hidden Reason Manufacturing Jobs Have Disappeared
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
The Truth About Medicare Advantage
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
Marvel workers won the first union in visual effects history
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
We Uncovered a Shocking Right-Wing Plot to Eradicate Public Schools
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
The Government’s Radical Solution to Lower Drug Prices
Read More
YouTube Thumbnail
This New Deal Jobs Program Is Coming Back
Read More