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Amazon caused an uproar on Thursday by denying reports that its couriers were forced to urinate in bottles due to lack of access to toilets, but a leaked internal memo shows the company has been aware of the problem for at least several months.
Documents provided by Amazon officials to Intercept showed that an email sent in May 2020 warned workers to urinate in bottles and defecate in bags while on the job.
“Tonight, an associate discovered human feces in an Amazon bag that was returned to the station by a driver,” says the email. “This is the third time in the last 2 months that the bags have returned to the station with feces inside. We understand that DA’s [driver associates] they can have emergencies while on the road and, especially during Covid, DAs have been struggling to find restrooms during deliveries. “
Workers told Intercept that the problem was commonly referred to in internal discussions, with a former Amazon employee telling the publication that drivers are “implicitly forced to do so, otherwise we will end up losing our jobs because of too many ‘packages. not delivered ‘”.
The revelation came after a combative tweet from Amazon addressed to a Wisconsin congressman, who criticized the company for working conditions. The saga unfolded amid a clash with workers in Alabama trying to unionize the workplace.
It is not the first time that Amazon workers, who are known for their strenuous hours, have talked about the problem. Workers had previously told the Guardian that they needed to urinate in water bottles daily for fear of missing delivery charges. A forum on Reddit dedicated to Amazon drivers, who, while impossible to completely check to verify their authenticity, shows hundreds of comments from drivers claiming that they often need to urinate in water bottles for lack of breaks to go to the bathroom during work, especially like Covid. 19 pandemic increased the number of births. Amazon saw a 37% increase in sales in just one quarter in 2020 and executive Jeff Bezos personally saw his net worth rise by $ 70 billion during the pandemic.
The bathroom controversy exposed on Thursday marks only the latest setback around how Amazon treats employees – and their delivery drivers in particular. Earlier this week, Vice reported drivers were forced to sign “biometric consent” forms to continue working for the retail giant.
These forms would allow AI-powered cameras to monitor drivers, who number about 75,000 in the United States, over the clock. Evan Greer, deputy director of the workers’ rights and privacy group Fight for the Future, said lawmakers should totally ban biometric surveillance, because workers trying to stay afloat during precarious times cannot be expected refuse politics if it means losing your job.
“Forcing workers to agree to constant monitoring by racist AI-powered surveillance cameras or being fired is not how consent works,” she said. “Lawmakers should act now to ban these practices altogether. No one should be forced to work in inhumane conditions and hand over their confidential biometric information to the boss, just to put food on the table. “
Amazon did not respond to the request for comment.