{"id":93386,"date":"2021-03-25T20:54:01","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T20:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/?p=349824"},"modified":"2021-03-25T20:54:01","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T20:54:01","slug":"documents-show-amazon-is-aware-drivers-pee-in-bottles-and-even-defecate-en-route-despite-company-denial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/03\/25\/documents-show-amazon-is-aware-drivers-pee-in-bottles-and-even-defecate-en-route-despite-company-denial\/","title":{"rendered":"Documents Show Amazon Is Aware Drivers Pee in Bottles and Even Defecate En Route, Despite Company Denial"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><u>In anticipation of<\/u> Sen. Bernie Sanders\u2019s scheduled trip to Bessemer, Alabama, to support the unionization drive by Amazon workers there, Amazon executive Dave Clark cast the $1 trillion behemoth as \u201cthe Bernie Sanders of employers\u201d and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davehclark\/status\/1374853185009934340\">taunted<\/a>: \u201cSo if you want to hear about $15 an hour and health care, Senator Sanders will be speaking downtown. But if you would like to make at least $15 an hour and have good health care, Amazon is hiring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Mark Pocan replied via <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/repmarkpocan\/status\/1374890264658120709?s=20\">tweet<\/a>: \u201cPaying workers $15\/hr doesn\u2019t make you a progressive workplace when you union-bust &amp; make workers urinate in water bottles,\u201d echoing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2018\/4\/16\/17243026\/amazon-warehouse-jobs-worker-conditions-bathroom-breaks\">reports<\/a> from 2018 that Amazon workers were forced to skip bathroom breaks and pee in bottles. Amazon\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/amazonnews\/status\/1374911222361956359?s=20\">denial<\/a> was swift: \u201cYou don\u2019t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- BLOCK(oembed)[4](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22OEMBED%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22EMBED%22%7D)(%7B%22embedHtml%22%3A%22%3Cblockquote%20class%3D%5C%22twitter-tweet%5C%22%20data-width%3D%5C%22500%5C%22%3E%3Cp%20lang%3D%5C%22en%5C%22%20dir%3D%5C%22ltr%5C%22%3E1%5C%2F2%20You%20don%5Cu2019t%20really%20believe%20the%20peeing%20in%20bottles%20thing%2C%20do%20you%3F%20If%20that%20were%20true%2C%20nobody%20would%20work%20for%20us.%20The%20truth%20is%20that%20we%20have%20over%20a%20million%20incredible%20employees%20around%20the%20world%20who%20are%20proud%20of%20what%20they%20do%2C%20and%20have%20great%20wages%20and%20health%20care%20from%20day%20one.%3C%5C%2Fp%3E%26mdash%3B%20Amazon%20News%20%28%40amazonnews%29%20%3Ca%20href%3D%5C%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Ftwitter.com%5C%2Famazonnews%5C%2Fstatus%5C%2F1374911222361956359%3Fref_src%3Dtwsrc%255Etfw%5C%22%3EMarch%2025%2C%202021%3C%5C%2Fa%3E%3C%5C%2Fblockquote%3E%3Cscript%20async%20src%3D%5C%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fplatform.twitter.com%5C%2Fwidgets.js%5C%22%20charset%3D%5C%22utf-8%5C%22%3E%3C%5C%2Fscript%3E%22%2C%22endpoint%22%3A%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fapi.twitter.com%5C%2F1%5C%2Fstatuses%5C%2Foembed.json%22%2C%22type%22%3A%22twitter%22%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Ftwitter.com%5C%2Famazonnews%5C%2Fstatus%5C%2F1374911222361956359%3Fs%3D20%22%7D) --><br \/>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">1\/2 You don\u2019t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us. The truth is that we have over a million incredible employees around the world who are proud of what they do, and have great wages and health care from day one.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Amazon News (@amazonnews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/amazonnews\/status\/1374911222361956359?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 25, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><!-- END-BLOCK(oembed)[4] --><\/p>\n<p>But Amazon workers with whom I spoke said that the practice was so widespread due to pressure to meet quotas that managers frequently referenced it during meetings and in formal policy documents and emails, which were provided to The Intercept. The practice, these documents show, was known to management, which identified it as a recurring infraction but did nothing to ease the pressure that caused it. In some cases, employees even defecated in bags.<\/p>\n<p>Amazon did not provide a statement to The Intercept before publication.<\/p>\n<p>One document from January, marked \u201cAmazon Confidential,\u201d details various infractions by Amazon employees, including \u201cpublic urination\u201d and \u201cpublic defecation.\u201d The document was provided to The Intercept by an Amazon employee in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who, like most of the employees I talked to, was granted anonymity to avoid professional reprisal.<\/p>\n<!-- BLOCK(document)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22DOCUMENT%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22EMBED%22%7D)(%7B%22sourceId%22%3A%2220527082%22%2C%22sourceName%22%3A%22documentcloud%22%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%5C%2F%5C%2Fbeta.documentcloud.org%5C%2Fdocuments%5C%2F20527082%22%7D) -->\n    <iframe\n      height=\"450\"\n      sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-forms\"\n      src=\"https:\/\/embed.documentcloud.org\/documents\/20527082\/?embed=1&amp;title=1\"\n      style=\"border: 1px solid #aaa;\"\n      width=\"100%\"\n    ><\/iframe>\n  <!-- END-BLOCK(document)[0] -->\n<p>The employee also provided an email sent by an Amazon logistics area manager\u00a0last May that chastised employees for defecating into bags. \u201cThis evening, an associate discovered human feces in an Amazon bag that was returned to station by a driver. This is the 3rd occasion in the last 2 months when bags have been returned to station with poop inside. We understand that DA\u2019s [driver associates] may have emergencies while on-road, and especially during Covid, DAs have struggled to find bathrooms while delivering.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve noticed an uptick recently of all kinds of unsanitary garbage being left inside bags: used masks, gloves, bottles of urine,\u201d the email continues. \u201cBy scanning the QR code on the bag, we can easily identify the DA who was in possession of the bag last. These behaviors are unacceptable, and will result in Tier 1 Infractions going forward. Please communicate this message to your drivers. I know if may seem obvious, or like something you shouldn\u2019t need to coach, but please be explicit when communicating the message that they CANNOT poop, or leave bottles of urine inside bags.\u201d<br \/>\n<!-- BLOCK(photo)[1](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PHOTO%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22RESOURCE%22%7D)(%7B%22scroll%22%3Afalse%2C%22align%22%3A%22center%22%2C%22width%22%3A%221000px%22%7D) --><div class=\"img-wrap align-center  width-fixed\" style=\"width: 1000px;\"><!-- CONTENT(photo)[1] -->\n<img class=\"aligncenter size-article-large wp-image-349866\" src=\"https:\/\/prod01-cdn05.cdn.firstlook.org\/wp-uploads\/sites\/1\/2021\/03\/amazon-logistic-email-1000x1040.jpg\" alt=\"Obtained by The Intercept\" \/>\n<p class=\"caption\">An email sent by an Amazon logistics area manager in May 2020.<\/p>\n<p class=\"caption source\">\nObtained by The Intercept<\/p><!-- END-CONTENT(photo)[1] --><\/div><!-- END-BLOCK(photo)[1] --> Halie Marie Brown, a 26-year-old resident of Manteca, California, who worked as a delivery driver for an Amazon delivery contractor, Soon Express, until quitting on March 12, told The Intercept that the practice \u201chappens because we are literally implicitly forced to do so, otherwise we will end up losing our jobs for too many \u2018undelivered packages.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- BLOCK(newsletter)[2](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22NEWSLETTER%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%7D) --><div class=\"shortcode\" data-shortcode=\"newsletter\" data-campaign=\"\" data-cta=\"\" data-headline=\"\" data-layout=\"\" data-subhead=\"\"><\/div><!-- END-BLOCK(newsletter)[2] -->\n<p>An email that Brown received from her manager\u00a0this past August has a section titled \u201cUrine bottle\u201d and states: \u201cIn the morning, you must check your van thoroughly for garbage and urine bottle. If you find urine bottle (s) please report to your lead, supporting staff or me. Vans will be inspected by Amazon during debrief, if urine bottle (s) are found, you will be issue an infraction tier 1 for immediate offboarding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Amazon technically prohibits the practice \u2014 documents characterize it as a \u201cTier 1\u201d infraction, which employees say can lead to termination \u2014 drivers said that this was disingenuous since they can\u2019t meet their quotas otherwise. \u201cThey give us 30 minutes of paid breaks, but you will not finish your work if you take it, no matter how fast you are,\u201d one Amazon delivery employee based in Massachusetts told me.<\/p>\n<p>Asked if management eased up on the quotas in light of the practice, Brown said, \u201cNot at all. In fact, over the course of my time there, our package and stop counts actually increased substantially.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This has gotten even more intense, employees say, as Amazon has seen an enormous boom in package orders during the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon employees said their performance\u00a0is monitored so closely by the firm\u2019s vast employee surveillance arsenal that they are constantly in fear of falling short of their productivity quotas.<\/p>\n<p>One email, provided to The Intercept by a Houston-based driver associate who works for an Amazon contractor, alludes to company cameras that can find\u00a0workers who\u00a0leave urine bottles behind in the vans. \u201cData from these cameras can be sent to Amazon in the event of any incident on the road. (We have had several bad accidents, a stolen van, drivers leaving piss bottles etc in the vans).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The employee said, \u201cEvery single day of my shift, I have to use the restroom in a bottle to finish my route on time. This is so common that you\u2019ll often find bottles from other drivers located under seats in the vans. &#8230; The fact that Amazon would tweet that is hilarious.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- BLOCK(promote-related-post)[3](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22PROMOTE_RELATED_POST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Atrue%7D)(%7B%22relatedPostNumber%22%3A1%7D) --><div class=\"promote-embed\" data-related-post-number=\"1\"><\/div><!-- END-BLOCK(promote-related-post)[3] -->\n<p>Public reports that Amazon employees skipped bathroom breaks originated in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2018\/4\/16\/17243026\/amazon-warehouse-jobs-worker-conditions-bathroom-breaks\">a 2018 book<\/a> by the British journalist James Bloodworth. That book, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/atlantic-books.co.uk\/book\/hired\/\">Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain<\/a>,\u201d alleged that Amazon workers at a warehouse in Staffordshire, U.K., resorted to urinating in bottles in order to meet production quotas. While most of the employees I spoke to were drivers who delivered products, workers said the practice was commonplace in factories as well.<\/p>\n<p>The vote by Amazon warehouse workers in Alabama on whether to unionize has become a flashpoint for organized labor. While Amazon has publicly criticized Sanders, he is far from the only prominent politician to voice support for the employees\u2019 right to form a union. Last month, President Joe Biden released a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/POTUS\/status\/1366191901196644354?s=20\">video statement<\/a>\u00a0saying, \u201cEvery worker should have a free and fair choice to join a union,\u201d which \u201cshould be made without intimidation or threats by employers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The election, which ends on March 29, would determine if the\u00a0more than 5,000 warehouse workers will join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/amazon-faces-growing-worker-pressure-in-shadow-of-alabama-union-vote-11616578202\">None<\/a> of Amazon\u2019s 800,000 employees in the U.S. are currently unionized.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2021\/03\/25\/amazon-drivers-pee-bottles-union\/\">Documents Show Amazon Is Aware Drivers Pee in Bottles and Even Defecate En Route, Despite Company Denial<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/\">The Intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2021\/03\/25\/amazon-drivers-pee-bottles-union\/\">The Intercept<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If employees actually had to pee in bottles, Amazon said, \u201cnobody would work for us.\u201d That\u2019s a lie.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2021\/03\/25\/amazon-drivers-pee-bottles-union\/\">Documents Show Amazon Is Aware Drivers Pee in Bottles and Even Defecate En Route, Despite Company Denial<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/\">The Intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":689,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,369],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93386"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/689"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93386"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93387,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93386\/revisions\/93387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}