Amazon Admits Drivers Urinate In Bottles, New York Worker ‘Detained’
Amazon now acknowledges there's a bathroom problem with delivery drivers.
In late March, U.S. Representative Mark Pocan of Wisconsin blasted Amazon following reports workers were urinating into bottles because they had no time to stop to use a restroom.
"Paying workers $15/hr doesn't make you a "progressive workplace" when you union-bust & make workers urinate in water bottles," Pocan tweeted.
Amazon quickly denied the claim.
"You don’t 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," Amazon tweeted in response to Pocan. "We hope you can enact policies that get other employers to offer what we already do."
Several delivery drivers chimed in and said they did in fact urinate into a bottle to save time. Some even posted photos of what they say is urine in bottles
"I worked for a short period as a delivery driver - around 4 to 6 weeks and had to urinate and defecate mid-route. Any stops that weren't a delivery you'd get a 'concession' and fail your daily targets," a Twitter user responded.
Over the weekend, Amazon confirmed that drivers have had trouble finding bathrooms, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We know that drivers can and do have trouble finding restrooms because of traffic or sometimes rural routes, and this has been especially the case during Covid when many public restrooms have been closed," Amazon stated. "This is a long-standing, industry-wide issue and is not specific to Amazon. Regardless of the fact that this is industry-wide, we would like to solve it. We don’t yet know how, but will look for solutions."
Jonathan Bailey, who recently organized a walkout over COVID-19 at an Amazon warehouse in Queens says he was later "detained" by an ex-FBI agent.
"It was already a pretty intense conversation. But it became very clear they were trying to intimidate me,” he told NBC News. “Being accused of harassment is a very dangerous thing.”
In early March, lawmakers in East Fishkill approved plans for Amazon to convert the former IBM campus into a 600,000-square-foot warehouse. 500 new jobs are expected.
In February, plans were announced for Amazon to build a massive warehouse, over one-million-square feet of space, in Montgomery, at the intersection of Routes 17K and 747, in the Town of Montgomery.
In July, Amazon Logistics announced plans to open a new delivery station located in New Windsor. The delivery station will power "Amazon’s last-mile capabilities" to speed up deliveries for customers in the Hudson Valley.
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