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Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

theintercept.com

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Re: Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

#31

Post by neartheplain »

nerdponx wrote: post #11
simonebrunozzi wrote: post #5

> You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us. > The truth is that we have over a million incredible employees around the world who are proud of what they do, and have great wages and health care from day one. Amazon's PR (one of the best in the industry) at its finest. Minimize/deny/ignore the issue raised, and quickly bridge to something else entirely. D…

Ah, the old economics joke: > Two economists are walking down the street, when they pass buy a luxury car dealership. One economist says, "I really want that Ferrari!" The other economist replies, "Clearly you don't!" And the other one that isn't as relevant but is funny: > Two economists are walking down the street, when one of them sees something on the ground. She says, "hey, is that a $20 bill on the ground?" The…

Does the first joke refer to the fact that if they wanted the Ferrari they’d have bought it already, or that if they really wanted the Ferrari, they’d have chosen a more lucrative profession than economics?

Re: Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

#33

Post by jclulow »

mycologos wrote: post #16

Amazon is, to me, a glaring example of just how little people are willing to translate outrage over capitalism and wage slavery into voting with their feet. I've literally heard people trash Amazon's labor practices, admit that they've been Prime members for years and will continue using them, and then express hope that the government will step in and do something to Amazon. Since many of these people are individuals…

It's not infantile to believe that one of the roles of government should be to protect individuals from the gargantuan power amassed by corporations. There is no way to avoid capitalism through personal responsibility.

Re: Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

#35

Post by Jaygles »

Before I got into software I worked mostly food service and sometimes found myself in a position where it would have been literally impossible to complete the duties assigned to me in the time I was given to do them without severely compromising safety. And at other times, impossible to do them even while compromising safety.

I always wondered if firings due to those types of situations should be legal. The failure is obviously on the bean counters who demand a certain amount of work done with inadequate labor, but blame often falls on those performing the labor.

Re: Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

#38

Post by evan_ »

Someone needs to start urban truck stops. Convert storefronts in centralized areas into a space with bathrooms, showers, maybe some snacks and sundries. Keep it clean and climate-controlled. Maybe it’s a gas station too, but the idea is to have them scattered around town and easy to build/operate, so maybe not.

Work out a deal with UPS/FedEx/Amazon but also Uber, Lyft, Postmates etc where they pay a membership and all of their drivers can use the space.

Re: Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

#39

Post by mycologos »

jclulow wrote: post #33
mycologos wrote: post #16

Amazon is, to me, a glaring example of just how little people are willing to translate outrage over capitalism and wage slavery into voting with their feet. I've literally heard people trash Amazon's labor practices, admit that they've been Prime members for years and will continue using them, and then express hope that the government will step in and do something to Amazon. Since many of these people are individuals…

It's not infantile to believe that one of the roles of government should be to protect individuals from the gargantuan power amassed by corporations. There is no way to avoid capitalism through personal responsibility .

I agree that it's reasonable to ask one's government to intervene against a powerful and possibly monopolistic corporation. However, I think this should be accompanied by the personal responsibility of avoiding that corporation. I'm sure there are people that really rely on Amazon deliveries, but for most consumers it comes down to it being slightly cheaper and slightly more convenient. It seems like such a small amount of personal responsibility to ask of people to divest from this particular company if they think it's bad.

Re: Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

#40

Post by moduspol »

cletus wrote: post #7

My understanding is that this is pretty common for every courier including UPS and FedEx. Why? Because the driver will have a set of deliveries. Once they’re finished those they’re done for the day. In NYC at least finding a restroom and finding parking (even double parking) beat it takes valuable time. It saves time to pee in a bottle. This just isn’t unique to Amazon is all I’m saying.

I think any organization that actually incentivizes employees to complete small, objectively-measurable tasks quickly will have stories like this once you've got enough employees. Unless you keep cameras on them at all times, I guess.

These stories are always framed this way as if only someone truly desperate would stoop to peeing in bottles. But to many people, peeing in a bottle is actually not a big deal and is, in fact, preferable to getting home fifteen minutes later.

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