Amazon

In response to the collapse of the Amazon warehouse that killed six employees during a December 2021 tornado, Illinois lawmakers hope to recommend increased safety measures by 2025.

Amazon officials say they are taking steps to make their workplaces safer, including better training.

Workers are organizing in St. Louis — and speaking out not just with their voices, but with their feet. They’re just getting started.

Although the bills would apply to companies beyond Amazon, Bush was clear in saying they were a response to the six warehouse workers who died last year in Edwardsville.

Hundreds of workers signed a petition seeking better working conditions. The group’s organizers say Amazon’s culture has led to safety issues.

In the wake of the storm, warehouse employees and supporters of labor said the building should have included a protective shelter, even though building codes do not require them.

“You have people that they’ve been coached to be concerned with basically Amazon’s belongings," one worker said. "That doesn’t make any sense to me. The response should simply be to seek shelter immediately.”

The federal workplace safety agency has been investigating the deaths of six people at the facility since a tornado hit it in December.

Both new lawsuits join a wrongful death lawsuit that was filed earlier this year on behalf of one of the six Amazon workers who died during the tornado.

One of the construction companies that built the Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville responds to accusations that the building wasn't properly constructed