One worker said Impact Plastics managers would not let employees leave, which company denies

One worker said Impact Plastics managers would not let employees leave, which company denies

Several employees at a plastics factory in eastern Tennessee were killed during Hurricane Helene or are missing, amid warnings that the storm’s current death toll of more than 130 is likely to rise substantially as subsiding floodwaters allow rescuers to search through the wreckage.

Impact Plastics confirmed there had been fatalities at its plant in Erwin but did not say how many people had been killed. The company said there were missing and deceased employees as well as a contractor.

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Jacob Ingram, a mold changer at the company, told the Knoxville News Sentinel that as the flooding started, managers instructed employees to move their cars away from the rising water – but would not let them leave. “They should’ve evacuated when we got the flash flood warnings, and when they saw the parking lot,” he said to the newspaper. "When we moved our cars, we should’ve evacuated then … we asked them if we should evacuate, and they told us not yet, it wasn’t bad enough.

  • @[email protected]
    37•3 months ago

    My siblings live in an area affected by Helene, and I thank fucking god the one that works in a warehouse has the Gen Z attitude of “get fucked lol” when it comes to employers.

    When the worst of the storm was coming through the stance of county 911 was that if you call they’re not coming unless someone is about to die. And yet some of these companies expect people to risk their lives to show up for $10-15 an hour? It’s insane.

    I understand why everyone can’t just tell their employer to go fuck themselves, it’s just a horrible situation if you ever find yourself in the position of having to make the call of, ‘do I lose my job for what may or may not be a genuine emergency?’

    • @Gammelfisch
      19•3 months ago

      Red States like cheap labor with the life is cheap attitude.

    • @[email protected]
      3•3 months ago

      Another insane thing is that emergency personnel get paid pennies as well. I have a friend who used to work as an EMT in Boston (~2021), and he was paid $15/hr.