Employees at e-commerceAmazon, owned by the world's richest man, Jeff Bezos, have complained that they are forced to urinate into bottles because they don't have time to take breaks in order to meet work goals. Amazon initially denied the rumors. However, on April 2, it admitted in a statement that it was wrong to tell US politician Mark Pocan that his claim that its workers, and particularly its drivers, are forced to urinate into bottles was untrue.
The whole issue arose when Pocan shared a tweet on March 25, in which he accused Amazon of the way it treats its employees, with the issue having aroused public interest, as at the same time, workers in Amazon warehouses in Alabama were voting to decide whether to form a union.
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Specifically, Pocan's tweet stated the following: "Paying workers $15 an hour does not make you a 'progressive workplace' if you fight unionization and force workers to pee in water bottles."
Amazon responded with a tweet from its @amazonnews account, saying: "You don't really believe this is happening, do you? If this were true, no one would work for us. The truth is, we have over a million incredible employees around the world who are proud of what they do and have great pay and healthcare from day one."
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Jason Del Rey, a journalist for Recode, reports that Amazon's aggressive response was encouraged by its founder, Jeff Bezos, who was annoyed that the company was not responding forcefully to its critics.
But now, Amazon has changed tack, writing on its website: “The message was inaccurate. It failed to take into account the large number of our drivers and incorrectly focused exclusively on fulfillment centers.” Amazon points out that a typical fulfillment center has dozens of restrooms and employees are able to leave their desks at any time. At the same time, it acknowledges that this is not always the case for its drivers.
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“We know that drivers may experience difficulty finding a restroom due to traffic or sometimes due to routes in rural areas, and this has been particularly acute during the pandemic, as many public restrooms remain closed. This is a long-standing issue that affects the entire market and is not unique to Amazon. We don’t know how yet, but we will consider solutions,” Amazon says.
Amazon has long tried to prevent its more than 800,000 employees in the U.S. from forming unions. Many workers have complained about inhumane working conditions, and as a result, the American labor movement has made it a goal to form unions at the company's facilities.
The e-commerce giant has been in a difficult position lately, as workers at its Bessemer fulfillment center were asked to vote on whether to form a union. The vote was completed a few days ago, but the National Labor Relations Board in the US has not yet announced the results. The stakes are high for Amazon, as a vote in favor of the proposal could strengthen similar initiatives being recorded in other branches of the company's vast workforce. In total, Amazon currently has more than 1.1 million employees.
