Working conditions at Amazon are in the spotlight again, and this time the focus is on bathroom breaks, or lack thereof.
On Wednesday night, one of Amazon’s official Twitter accounts pushed back on claims that its workers have no time to stop for pee breaks and must urinate in bottles while on the job.
The tweet has since sparked a flurry of replies from journalists who say Amazon delivery workers actually do end up peeing in bottles while driving their vehicles from one location to the next. The evidence includes interviews that journalists have conducted with workers and even pictures of the discarded bottles outside Amazon facilities.
Other journalists have been covering the conditions inside Amazon warehouses, and point out that bathroom breaks are tracked as “time off task.” If too much time off is accrued, workers can receive a warning or even get terminated.
“It really is not fair for employees to get fired for going to the bathroom,” Darryl Richardson, a warehouse worker in Alabama recently told New York Magazine.
The whole controversy occurs as Amazon is fending off criticism from US lawmakers over working conditions at the company’s warehouses. Amazon's original tweet dismissing the pee stories was in response to US Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisconsin), who slammed Amazon for trying to stop workers in Alabama from unionizing. In the same tweet, Pocan alleged the e-commerce giant "makes workers urinate in water bottles."
The employees in Alabama are calling for higher wages, no penalties for bathroom breaks, and changes to the strict production quotas, among other demands. “The reason I want the union is because I thought Amazon was a good place to work. I realized, wow, there need to be some changes,” Richardson told New York Magazine.
US Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) is also scheduled to meet with Amazon workers in Alabama on Friday in a show of support. “I am proud to stand in solidarity with Amazon workers in Alabama who are fighting for better wages and better working conditions. If they win, they will improve the lives of workers at the warehouse in Alabama and all over this country,” he wrote in a tweet on Thursday.
The day before, Amazon's retail chief, Dave Clark, threw some serious shade at Sanders, tweeting out: “I welcome Senator Sanders to Birmingham and appreciate his push for a progressive workplace. I often say we are the Bernie Sanders of employers, but that’s not quite right because we actually deliver a progressive workplace.”
Clark then pointed out Amazon offers a $15-an-hour minimum wage, healthcare coverage, and a “safe and inclusive work environment.”
“So if you want to hear about $15 an hour and health care, Senator Sanders will be speaking downtown. But if you would like to make at least $15 an hour and have good health care, Amazon is hiring,” he added.
Amazon didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.