Amazon has apologized for disputing a lawmaker’s claim that its workers urinate in bottles, and admitted in a Friday blog post that it was ‘wrong’ to deny the report. The online retailer said the issue affects managers, not employees in its many warehouses across the US
Questions about whether Amazon workers who work under severe time constraints sometimes urinate in bottles appear in a 2018 book by British journalist James Bloodworth, who briefly went to work at an Amazon warehouse to document the hardship of low-wage work in the UK. In his report, he came across a bottle of urine hidden in a warehouse, which he said was the solution of one worker to the problem of squeezing into bathrooms at the massive facility.
To his excuse, Amazon completely refuted such accounts. “You do not really believe the thing is picking in bottles, do you? If it were true, no one would work for us,” the Amazon News account tweeted on March 24 in response to criticism from Rep. Mark Pocan that the online diaper was not relieved in his workplace just because it offered a minimum wage of $ 15 per hour.
Though Amazon denied these reports, other journalists documented workers at the company relying on bottles to relieve themselves. Last month, the Intercept released internal Amazon documents urging workers for a public urination and “public defecation,” while one worker reported receiving an email from management saying he was drivers should check their pickups for ‘urine bottles’ and report such violations. “
At the same time, Amazon has disputed a number of other allegations about working conditions, such as a lawsuit filed by the State of New York claiming that the company failed to protect workers from COVID-19. Investors are also urging Amazon for change, including CtW Investment Group, which represents pension funds of about five million union workers.
“Very important symbol”
Amid such challenges for Amazon, it is the reports of employees fluffing in bottles that have sharpened the attention and sympathy of the public. Bloodworth told CBS MoneyWatch this month that his description of finding a bottle filled with what looks and smells like urine is a ‘throwaway line’ in a book on low-wage working conditions.
“It’s become an iconic image because we’re talking about the richest multinationals in the world led by the richest man in the world, and yet you have a workforce that from my own experience was afraid to take breaks in the bathroom, said Bloodworth. CBS MoneyWatch said earlier this month. “It’s quite a shocking thing in the 21st century.”
The issue has also been investigated by investors. The CEO of CtW Investment Group, Dieter Waizenegger, told CBS MoneyWatch that its pension funds care about working conditions and that the company wants to ensure that these values are reflected in its investments. The investment group, which owns 900,000 Amazon shares and manages $ 250 billion in assets, has reached out to Amazon to improve workplace conditions, such as improving health and safety protection.
“The puddle in bottles is basically a very important symbol, but it’s part of a much bigger picture,” Waizenegger said. “If you invest in your workers and give them good working conditions and a degree of dignity and respect, they will work harder for you.”
Amazon did not immediately return a request for comment.
One experience of the former worker
While Amazon acknowledges that its drivers can sometimes pee on bottles, it has described a different situation in its warehouses.
“In a typical Amazon fulfillment center, there are dozens of restrooms, and employees can walk out of their workstation at any time. If any employee in a fulfillment center has a different experience, we encourage them to talk to their manager, then we are working to rectify this, ”the company said on Friday.
But former warehouse workers say it can be difficult to take a bathroom break, given their 15-minute breaks and the large spaces they sometimes have to traverse to reach one. Chris Smalls, a former Amazon warehouse assistant who was fired in March 2020 after arranging an outing due to lack of precautions to stop COVID-19 infections, said using the toilet was not easy.
Workers are ‘tracked down to the second’, Smalls told CBS MoneyWatch, adding that warehouses ‘bathrooms often run five to ten minutes from a workers’ station, making it difficult to use the toilet in a 15-minute break . If workers exceed their rest period, managers will write it down, says Smalls, which could eventually lead to layoffs.
As a supervisor, he said workers came to him with complaints because they did not have enough time to use the toilet. “I would say, ‘You can use the bathroom,’ but I had to warn them about consequences over time,” he says.
Once, Smalls added, human feces were found on a set of stairs, which he said was due to a worker who could not get to the toilet in time.
Smalls said his recommendation would be for Amazon to stop locating workers if they use the restroom. “Time should not be used against them at all,” he said. “It’s a human right.”
All eyes on Alabama Warehouse
The latest investigation into Amazon’s workplace practices comes as about 6,000 employees in a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, await the outcome of a vote last month on whether to unite, which represents the largest labor pressure in the history of the trader.
If the vote supports union, it could encourage more workers in warehouses to unite or demand better working conditions, experts say. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which led the union in Bessemer, declined to comment because votes are currently being cast.
Professor Rebecca Givan, prof. Rebecca Givan, says Amazon’s first response to Rep. Pocan last month on the criticism of Rep. Pocan and claims that people would not work for the company if such stories were true. associate professor at the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University.
” If children did not want to work in the mines, why would they take this job? If people do not want to be sexually harassed, then why did they work there? ” She said. “It’s insulting because it humiliates workers who have bills and mouths to feed.”
Even if the union’s vote fails, experts are likely to continue to be scrutinized by customers and other stakeholders, experts say. A vote against union will also address the issues facing low-wage workers in times of enormous wealth creation for Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and investors.
“A lot of workers, especially lower-wage workers, don’t have many options,” Givan said. “I do not think we will be able to conclude that these workers do not want a voice at work, but it is extremely difficult to organize” according to current legislation.