If you’ve ever been on a long car ride before, chances are you’ve had to find a creative way to relieve yourself. I think anyone who’s had to deal with that sort of thing can agree that it is an unpleasant experience. Now imagine, if you will, that you are forced to do something like that to avoid being reprimanded at your job.
This is the reality for many Amazon delivery drivers. Due to high fulfillment demands and delivery targets, drivers often do not have the option to find a proper bathroom. According to an article by Vice which includes photos of bottles of urine from Amazon delivery drivers, “delivery workers…often deliver up to 300 packages a day on a 10 hour shift. If they take too long, they can be written up and fired.”
One Amazon driver interviewed in the article shared that, “if I drove to find a restroom…I would be bringing back packages every night and that would eventually mean I would get infractions, which would lead to termination.”
Another, who uses coffee cups instead of bottles, said, “the best drivers get overtime so there’s incentive to cut corners. The most productive drivers get rewarded the most hours.”
A second Vice article focuses solely on cis women drivers, who are forced to hold their waste “for up to 10 hours, squat over trash bags, or purchase ‘she-wees,’ female urinals.”
Factory floor workers don’t have it any better. In a video by More Perfect Union, Amazon workers spoke out about the working conditions at Amazon. Poultry worker and union organizer Michael Foster explained that “the restroom could be on the other side of the building…they have to take their walk so far, and they’re timing them.” Workers who run out of time, he explained, risk losing their jobs.
A survey of Amazon workers in the United Kingdom found that “74% of workers avoid using the toilet for fear of missing their target and receiving a warning point.” The survey also reports that workers saw an increase in targets which they were physically unable to keep up with. Journalist James Bloodworth, who went undercover as an Amazon worker, found that some workers were using bottles instead of going to the restroom, for fear of being written up for “idling.”
Despite all this, Amazon shared a rather touchy response when confronted with the issue on Twitter. “You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us.” Amazon later apologized for these remarks, but maintained that the bathroom issue only affects drivers, not floor workers.
There is undeniable evidence that Amazon’s working conditions are physically impossible for a great number of their workers. Bottles of urine aside, there are other physically dangerous factors at play, such as extreme heat or a fast-paced workflow. Several Amazon workers have died because of the conditions, several sources report. Sources include The Huffington Post, Green America, and Business Insider.
The conditions at Amazon are inhumane, and they have been for awhile. None of this is new. I’d like to say “it’s only a matter of time before things improve,” but that would be untrue.
Categories: Opinion
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