Share this page!

More Perfect Union Profile picture
Twitter logo
13 Dec, 8 tweets, 3 min read
Horrifying details are emerging about the tornado disaster at Amazon's warehouse in Illinois, where at least 6 workers were killed on the job.

Before he died, Larry Virden reportedly texted his girlfriend: "Amazon won’t let us leave." He leaves behind four children.
29-year old Clayton Cope rushed to save the lives of his co-workers and warn them about the tornado. He was killed when the warehouse collapsed.

"At least I did get to say I love you," his mother told the local news.
The disaster calls into question some of Amazon's key business practices.

Only 7 of 190 people working at the facility were full-time staff.

Amazon’s dependence on contractors allows them to avoid liability for accidents and undercut union organizing.
nytimes.com/2021/12/12/tec…
Amazon workers are also decrying the company's ban on people carrying their phones on the job, leaving them unable to get updates or contact people during emergencies.

"After these deaths, there is no way in hell I am relying on Amazon to keep me safe."
businessinsider.com/amazon-workers…
Amazon workers are demanding change and accountability. This is Darryl Richardson, one of the leading organizers of the effort to unionize Amazon in Bessemer, Alabama:
Amazon executives sent “thoughts and prayers” to its warehouse workers while forcing them to work through a deadly tornado.

Why didn’t they send Amazon workers home and out of harm’s way?
Amazon has repeatedly forced its workers to keep working through life-threatening natural disasters.

"This is another outrageous example of the company putting profits over the health and safety of their workers," said Stuart Appelbaum of @RWDSU.
45 people were rescued from the Amazon facility in addition to the 6 who lost their lives.

OSHA has now opened an investigation into the fatal warehouse collapse.
cnbc.com/2021/12/13/osh…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with More Perfect Union

More Perfect Union Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @MorePerfectUS

More Perfect Union Profile picture
13 Dec
Who is Elon Musk, Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2021?

We spoke to factory workers at Tesla about what it’s really like working for the richest man in the world.

They told us about a toxic, racist, and exploitative workplace culture that stems from the top. 🧵
Ex-Tesla worker Richard Ortiz spoke out about Musk’s illegal union-busting at Tesla.

Richard Ortiz tried to organize his coworkers at Tesla's CA factory. In response, Tesla "coercively interrogated" him three times, then fired him illegally.
Another veteran Tesla worker came forward to detail extraordinarily dangerous conditions at
@ElonMusk's auto factory.

"It was like a modern-day industrial sweatshop," said Dennis Duran, who worked at Tesla’s Bay Area plant for 5 years.
Read 5 tweets
More Perfect Union Profile picture
7 Dec
BREAKING: The 1400 striking Kellogg’s workers have courageously voted to reject the contract offer from the breakfast giant.

They walked out 9 weeks ago after years of 16-hour shifts, forced overtime, and uneven pay.

They’ve won some gains, but there’s one big sticking point.
Workers rejected several contracts before this one, blocking Kellogg’s attempt to cut off newer and future employees from attaining full-time pay and benefits.

Veteran workers told us they wouldn’t “sell our souls” and abandon their younger colleagues.
By voting down the contract, workers are showing unbreakable solidarity.

The deal called for a 3% raise for “legacy” employees, a category that now includes workers on the job for at least four years.

But they would not accept the continued division.
Read 4 tweets
More Perfect Union Profile picture
18 Oct
SCOOP: Dollar General was caught illegally intimidating workers just days before a store in Barkhamsted, CT, is set to vote on whether to form the company’s first U.S. union.

District managers visited the store Saturday and threatened to close the store if workers voted YES.
.@UFCW will file charges with the NLRB against Dollar General for conducting illegal union busting activities.

The union vote is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 22.
Workers at the Dollar General store told @hamiltonnolan that they are seeking to unionize “as a result of poor treatment of employees by a Dollar General district manager.” inthesetimes.com/article/dollar…
Read 4 tweets
More Perfect Union Profile picture
23 Sep
Why did Democrats who once supported allowing the government to cut prescription costs by negotiating drug prices with Big Pharma turn around and try to block it?

We followed the money trail behind @RepKathleenRice, @RepSchrader, and @RepScottPeters's reversal. Thread:
Last week, the House Energy & Commerce Committee voted against a provision in @POTUS's reconciliation bill that would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. Democrats Rice, Schrader, and Peters cast the deciding 'no' votes — defying their constituents' wishes:
Per @DataProgress, *over 90% of voters* in Rice, Schrader, and Peters' districts want drug price reform. Nationwide, drug price reform is incredibly popular across partisan lines — 82% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 90% of Democrats support it.
Read 10 tweets
More Perfect Union Profile picture
22 Sep
NEW: Minnesota police are using brutal physical violence and “pain compliance” against water protectors and Line 3 pipeline protestors.

The torture tactics have left some activists with partial facial paralysis.
Enbridge Energy, the multinational corporation building the tar sands oil pipeline, is funding the police who torture, harass, and surveil protestors opposing Line 3.

Enbridge has now paid police & sheriffs in Minnesota $2 million to protect the pipeline.
Police have also used tear gas and rubber bullets against the unarmed protestors.

Tara Houska (@zhaabowekwe) with the @giniwcollective spoke to Vice about the extreme force law enforcement have used to squash Line 3 protests.
vice.com/en/article/4av…
Read 5 tweets
More Perfect Union Profile picture
22 Sep
.@JoeBiden and Democrats' $3.5 trillion infrastructure package hangs by a thread due to conservative Democrats' refusal to abolish the filibuster. @AJentleson broke down for us how the filibuster has historically been used to impede progress and change.
Conservative politicians have historically used the filibuster to block civil rights, worker rights, and good jobs for all. Mitch McConnell has been particularly adept at wielding the filibuster to block progress, tanking campaign finance reform and worker protections.
The filibuster also played a starring role in creating the racial wealth gap in the United States — it was used by racist Southern Democrats to leave Black and Latino people out of the New Deal, and left domestic and agricultural workers out of minimum wage laws.
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @MorePerfectUS has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @MorePerfectUS!

Read all threads by @MorePerfectUS

:(