EDWARDSVILLE 鈥� Labor activists and faith leaders from across the Midwest gathered Thursday at the site of a to call for safer working conditions.
The rally came a little more than a month after six people died in the warehouse when it collapsed after being hit by a tornado.
鈥淲e said that we would be back. We would not rest until we get answers, until families get closure,鈥� said the Rev. Darryl Gray, social justice commissioner for the Progressive National Baptist Convention.
He explained to the crowd how faith leaders and labor organizers are concerned about
鈥淎mazon has not acknowledged its role in this tragedy,鈥� Gray said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not enough to say that in our building codes, our safety trainings, our emergency procedures that we just did enough.鈥�
Amazon officials have said that the building met all applicable building codes and that workers followed safety procedures to shelter during the tornado.
Some speakers at the event lamented that the loss of life was preventable. Arnetra Rhodes, who works at an Amazon facility in Hazelwood, lost her cousin when the Edwardsville warehouse collapsed.
鈥淲e have no type of safe house in all these warehouses out here,鈥� Rhodes said. 鈥淲e need to be protected.鈥�
She said that, as a warehouse worker, she doesn鈥檛 feel like Amazon cares about her beyond how much money she generates for them.
鈥淭hey know they can do better,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t shouldn鈥檛 be an 18-year-old to have to tell y鈥檃ll that.鈥�
Other speakers, like Jeffery Hebb, whose daughter, Etheria, was one of the six who were killed, said working in a warehouse isn鈥檛 something that should lead to death.
鈥淪omebody has to be responsible,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y daughter was not expendable. Amazon was supposed to keep them safe. They didn鈥檛 do that.鈥�
Hebb and Gray stressed how they and others are looking forward to answers about the safety of the
Some attendees traveled from Kansas City and Chicago to show their support for the families and workers in Edwardsville. Marjock Fenner, who works for UPS and is a member of Chicago-based Teamsters Local 710, said he鈥檚 heard stories from warehouse workers in the Metro East about how they struggle with health insurance, injuries and wages.
鈥淭he point is not getting driven home until we see a situation like this, where we had a disaster happen and it鈥檚 like they鈥檙e trying to sweep it under the rug,鈥� he said.
While the rally focused primarily on the warehouse collapse, the members of labor unions and faith leaders also used it as an opportunity to push for better conditions and pay for working-class jobs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a coincidence that when we talk about poor working conditions and the struggle for a decent wage that most of the workers we鈥檙e talking about are Black and female,鈥� Gray said.
Eric Schmid covers the Metro East for 漏 2024 外网天堂 as part of the journalism grant program: , an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.
