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[-] Gork@lemm.ee 202 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Archive link to the story. There should be some consequences to the management who didn't allow them to leave when the flash flood warning was issued.

[-] ThePantser@lemmy.world 137 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

There will be about the same consequence as the Amazon warehouse that wouldn't let their employees leave during a tornado. Nothing.

[-] thefartographer@lemm.ee 107 points 2 months ago

There absolutely were consequences. A longer-than-it-should-have-taken investigation was done from which they discovered that killing your employees is very naughty and were told that they shouldn't do that anymore. In return, Amazon made a very sincere "whoopsie-doodle 👉👈, I sowwy. But we didn't directly kill these production assets, so no harm no foul."

[-] Buelldozer@lemmy.today 45 points 2 months ago

That matter isn't settled yet but my guess is that Amazon will ultimately settle out of court for a lot of money. With that said a Tornado is a different kettle of fish than a flood. The warning time for a tornado is usually measured in bare minutes, sometimes when you're lucky you get 20 minutes and even then where exactly are you going to go?

Floods like this one though had HOURS of warning and there's positively no reason for employees to get caught like this. There was more than enough time for these folks to get a known safe place. It's despicable.

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[-] Wogi@lemmy.world 82 points 2 months ago

There should be some consequences to the management who ~~didn't allow them to leave~~ didn't send them the fuck home immediately.

I work in a factory that sits on a flood plane. It's happened more than once that by the time a decision is made to cut people loose, it's already difficult to leave the area. Often by the time a flash flood warning is issued there are only a few minutes of clear roadway left.

It's entirely possible that a similar situation happened here, that the safest place for those people to be was in that building, that there was no way out and they would have been swept down stream regardless.even if that's the case, this company should be held liable for sitting on their hands and keeping people at work through a storm where the risk of flooding was so great. That decision should have been made much sooner. If there was a job to come back to you can always post them for a Saturday and wouldn't have to pay overtime until they actually hit 40 hours.

I'm so fucking fed up with the false urgency in these places. This company made high density plastic parts. Literally nothing they were making is life or death. Nothing they were making couldn't wait another day. No customers were going to bail because the factory they needed their parts from got hit by a fucking hurricane.

But everyone, every fucking person in leadership, is constantly pressured to squeeze out more units, more production. Keep people working as long as possible, because every second they're not making a product is a second the company is losing money. And because now every fucking company has jumped on to the lean manufacturing model, they are constantly, perpetually, chronicly behind. The second an order comes in it's already too late and we need those units NOW. no lead time, no back orders. So stay at your machine because the boss man needs another Lexus.

Fucking burn it down

[-] Krauerking@lemy.lol 43 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Why? They were immigrants so they could be disposable labor right?

One of the employees who died, Bertha Mendoza, 56, fell off the truck and vanished into the flood, according to Ingram and a representative from Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.

Same with the fucking bridge that got destroyed in ~~Delaware~~ Baltimore and every factory disaster. Immigrants doing the labor that die for our carelessness, and easy to replace.

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[-] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 133 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Evacuation Warnings should carry a legal responsibility to close all nonessential businesses until the immediate crisis is over.

Honestly, even the Waffle House manager should hand over the keys to the Fire Chief. Those guys know how to cook, and clean up after themselves, should the need arise.

[-] Fosheze@lemmy.world 87 points 2 months ago

If I learned anything durring covid it's that basically every business is "essential".

[-] DJDarren@thelemmy.club 41 points 2 months ago

Yep. Company I work for didn’t miss a day of work because our boss had the HR manager make up a certificate for us to all put in our cars telling the police that we were considered ‘essential’.

I don’t think we are, but hey ho.

[-] sawdustprophet@midwest.social 29 points 2 months ago

When I read the shelter in place order from my governor, its definition of "essential businesses" was so broad it would have been shorter to list businesses not covered.

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[-] teft@lemmy.world 112 points 2 months ago

I do not understand the mentality. Companies do not care for your well-being. Don't die for them just because your manager is an idiot that says "stay put".

[-] treadful@lemmy.zip 85 points 2 months ago

We have the hindsight with full knowledge of the risk they were taking. I'd bet they only thought they were risking their next paycheck, not their lives.

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[-] eacapesamsara@sh.itjust.works 37 points 2 months ago

Homesslessness in the US is about a coin flip off for death or suffering, every hour of every day. Quitting your job or getting fired for insubordination prevents you from collecting unemployment, and most Americans have less than a weeks expenses saved due the the last 60 years of low pay and exponentially rising expenses, causing homelessness if you lose your job. You might die in a hurricane induced flood, but that risk can seem less than slowly dying while homeless or in prison for being homeless.

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[-] ech@lemm.ee 94 points 2 months ago

We really need to break our conditioning that employment is the highest priority in our lives. That employers can dictate whether we take live saving action depending on how many pennies it'll cost them.

And this isn't to victim blame. What happened to these people is a travesty and the company holds the blame for it, 100%. It's more to point out that we're the only ones that can take action on this. Nobody (certainly not corps) is going to break this mindset or norm on our behalf. Look out for yourself and your peers. You're more important then your employer's bottom line.

[-] Fosheze@lemmy.world 30 points 2 months ago

We really need to break our conditioning that employment is the highest priority in our lives.

It's not really conditioning when it's actually the case. Without my job I'm likely homeless or dead within weeks. If Iose my job then I can no longer pay my bills, within a few months I'll be homeless. More urgently though I lose access to my health insurance which means I lose access to the medications keeping my mental illness in check. Finding a new job normally is a pain; finding one when you're so depressed that you really don't even care if you live or die is next to impossible. Also once it flares up you tend to stop caring about even seeking treatment for it making it a self perpetuating issue. If I got fired I would have only a few weeks to find a new job before I wound up in a position I likely wouldn't recover from. Sure there are things like unemployment but that doesn't even come close to paying my bills let alone affording my own health insurance.

So it would take a lot for me to risk walking away from my job and risk getting fired. I could easily see myself in the same position as these people, waiting until it's too late to run out of fear of losing my job. If we want people to be able to walk away from situations like this then we need to make survival possible without employment. We need healthcare to not be tied to employment and we need real unemployment pay to keep people afloat while they find a new job.

[-] MNByChoice@midwest.social 26 points 2 months ago

If only our health insurance wasn't tied to our jobs.

If only wages were high enough to have something extra to cushion.

If only we didn't have to work so long, wr could think and make better decisions.

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[-] xyguy@startrek.website 84 points 2 months ago

113 Years after the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire and not enough has changed for the better.

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[-] Ultraviolet@lemmy.world 70 points 2 months ago

Charge the manager with a separate count of murder for every employee that died due to their orders.

[-] ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net 36 points 2 months ago

In old Japan, they would have made a bunch of management chop their finger off or commit seppuku.

Im not suggesting that. I'm just saying.

[-] GuyDudeman@lemmy.world 28 points 2 months ago

I’m suggesting it.

[-] Delphia@lemmy.world 33 points 2 months ago

Murder wouldnt stick, have to prove intent.

Negligent Homicide or Criminal Negligence on the other hand...

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[-] 5in1k@lemm.ee 69 points 2 months ago

I know they were scared to lose their livelihoods but there’s no way my job could have that level of control over me. ” Sorry fuckfaces but biblical stuff is happening outside, I’m out”

[-] roofuskit@lemmy.world 26 points 2 months ago

How many times in your life have you been without a meal for an entire day because you couldn't afford one? Ever been without a place to live?

[-] DaPorkchop_@lemmy.ml 48 points 2 months ago

If you don't leave the building you will not be having any more meals ever again.

[-] P00ptart@lemmy.world 24 points 2 months ago

Good news! You also don't need to worry about rent!

[-] 5in1k@lemm.ee 31 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

More times than I can die that’s for sure.

[-] Tinks@lemmy.world 26 points 2 months ago

I would rather risk homelessness and starvation rather than drowning. If the water around the place I am is rising I am going to get to safety. Full stop. No job is worth risking my life for.

I understand what you're saying, but at the end of the day if you are dead, nothing else matters.

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[-] queermunist@lemmy.ml 65 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Publish the managers' names.

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[-] bitwolf@lemmy.one 39 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Man if it's a state of emergency let the mgr sink with the ship.

It so sad, they probably complied because they needed their jobs.

[-] Etterra@lemmy.world 28 points 2 months ago

Well on the bright side at least now they don't? I hope their families sue the shit out of the company and the manager.

[-] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 39 points 2 months ago

I worked at a major destination-store focused on fishing and hunting products.

We had a hurricane hitting and the manager on duty made it clear that anyone going home to help out their families would be fired. Then when he got the call that water was rising near his house, he took off.

I've never hated a manager more than in that moment. When I was in management later, I made sure that I took all the shitty holiday shifts so my staff didn't have to work until 10pm on Christmas Eve and then be back in the building changing prices for the after-Christmas sale at 2am on the 26th.

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[-] HotsauceHurricane@lemmy.one 38 points 2 months ago
[-] Kalysta@lemm.ee 38 points 2 months ago

I hope the management gets wrongful death suits launched against them

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[-] sirico@feddit.uk 36 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Didn't this happen during the last Hurricane as well? Oh it was 2021

[-] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 38 points 2 months ago

And it will happen during the next Hurricane as long as thr employers face zero repercussions.

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[-] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 31 points 2 months ago

If "a state of emergency" doesn't protect workers who are fleeing said emergency in the same way that jury duty and voting rights do, then they are broken and need to be fixed.

[-] zante@lemmy.wtf 30 points 2 months ago

A much happier story would have “I was fired for fleeing a flood but I lived to tell the tell”

This is heartbreaking

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[-] MudMan@fedia.io 29 points 2 months ago

Look, I know it's not the point, and that is an insane story that should have serious consequences for those responsible...

...but "PTO time" is bothering me more than I'd like.

[-] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 22 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

99% of the country votes capitalist every two years, and then everyone clutches their pearls when capitalist things happen. Guys, this is the world you wanted. The ruling parties are not hiding who they are from you.

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this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2024
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