Vigil Held For Edwardsville Tornado Victims

EDWARDSVILLE, IL — Union members, local officials and surviving family members gathered on a rainy Friday evening for a vigil near the Edwardsville, Illinois, Amazon warehouse where six workers died a week earlier, nearly to the hour, in an EF-3 tornado.

U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, who represents the St. Louis, Missouri, district where two of the workers lived, called on Amazon to be unionized and promised to sign a joint letter with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Elizabeth Warren demanding answers from the company.

"First of all, let me start by offering condolences to the families and loved ones to every single person who lost their lives in this tragedy — this preventable, avoidable tragedy," Bush said before reading the names of those killed.

Those killed on Dec. 10 were: Deandre S. Morrow, 28, of St. Louis; Kevin D. Dickey, 62, of Carlyle; Clayton Lynn Cope, 29, of Alton; Etheria S. Hebb, 34, of St. Louis; Larry E. Virden, 46, of Collinsville; and Austin J. McEwen, 26, of Edwardsville.

"We have to remember their names," Bush continued. "Because they are more than just names. We're talking about people, human beings, who showed up for work.

"When we show up for a job interview, we don't walk in with the idea, 'Do I need to check to see if they understand building codes?' Do I need to check the structure of this facility before I decide if I want to work here or not?'"

Bush said it was not the workers' responsibility to make sure the building was safe. It was Amazon's.

"Amazon, you have some explaining to do," Bush said. "You have to explain to these families members and loved ones why you were too busy making profits that you didn't have time for your people."

Despite hours of warning that a dangerous line of storms was approaching, Amazon officials seemed to take no action until minutes before the tornado touched down in the warehouse's parking lot.

"The sirens are just a warning," one Amazon supervisor texted a delivery driver, according to text messages obtained by Bloomberg News. "We can't just call people back for a warning."

Likewise, an Amazon official told Patch there was "too much emphasis on tornado watches" leading up to the storm.

Amazon media relations director Kelly Nantel told reporters last week that the facility had no safe room or storm shelter, and it appears to have been sheer luck that the storm struck the less populated side of the warehouse.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into safety conditions at the Amazon facility.

Bush called Amazon's lack of preparation unacceptable.

"Thirty-six hours before the tornado touched down, the alert went out," Bush said. "Thirty-six hours!"

"People are not dispensable," she continued. "People are worth more than profits. Amazon's profits should never come at the expense of people's lives, their safety and their health. This is not the cost of doing business."

You can watch a livestream of the vigil here.