Warren, Ocasio-Cortez, Bush rip Amazon over responses to deadly warehouse collapse

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote a letter to Amazon on Wednesday criticizing the corporate giant’s “lackluster responses” to another letter from the lawmakers in December regarding the deadly collapse of an Amazon warehouse.

In their letter to Amazon Chairman Jeff Bezos and CEO Andy Jassy, the Democrats specifically called Amazon’s response to their concerns “disappointing,” adding that a report from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) “revealed glaring gaps in Amazon’s safety procedures.”

“These findings reveal a wholly inadequate safety culture at Amazon, which potentially contributed to the death of six workers and, if not addressed, will continue to put thousands more workers across the country at risk,” they wrote.

The most recent letter came after Amazon responded to the lawmakers’ questions in January, assuring them that “safety is our top priority.” 

That correspondence was in response to the legislators voicing their concerns after a Dec. 10 collapse of an Illinois Amazon facility that left six employees dead.

In the January letter, Amazon noted that the company was conducting an internal investigation in addition to OSHA’s ongoing investigation of the collapse.

”These investigations are ongoing and will not be completed for many months, but we want to be responsive to your request and share what we have learned thus far,” the company said to the lawmakers. 

Family members of at least one of the victims of the collapse have alleged that Amazon failed to warn its employees about incoming inclement weather on the day of the collapse and did not provide safe shelter for them ahead of the storm.