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Amazon refused to give pregnant workers bathroom breaks

arstechnica.com

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Re: Amazon refused to give pregnant workers bathroom breaks

#51

Post by sublinear »

bathtub365 wrote: post #37
sublinear wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Securitas_AB I've gotta take the wind out of your sails a little bit on the "Pinkerton" name.

They still exist under the Pinkerton name, they’re just a subsidiary of Securitas AB: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkerton_(detective_agency) https://pinkerton.com/

Yes, people realizing that for themselves was the intent of my link. This discussion about trivia we're having right now is the only mojo left in the bottle.

It's the same parent company as the security guards at your local shopping mall. Pinkerton is like the "geek squad" brand of security.

Re: Amazon refused to give pregnant workers bathroom breaks

#52

Post by gblargg »

insanitybit wrote: post #31
gblargg wrote: post #25

[flagged]

Once a day I see a comment somewhere on the internet and go "Yes, perfect, this is the dumbest thing I'll read today. Great, that's out of the way". This is the one today!

I'm honestly baffled. Is there something factually incorrect about what I wrote? Ad hominem doesn't help. Also, why so hostile? I meant nothing malicious by it.

EDIT: I looked it up, and the legal definition of discrimination is almost Orwellian: not discriminating is legal discrimination, since it uses equality-of-outcome instead of equality of opportunity (equity vs equality), the source of the confusion here. They want different treatment (discrimination between people), which the law defines as non-discrimination. Being treated the same (no discrimination between workers) is discrimination.

Re: Amazon refused to give pregnant workers bathroom breaks

#53

Post by [deleted] »

FpUser wrote: post #35
Aurornis wrote: post #22

I skimmed the lawsuit. As far as I can tell, the complaint is about getting 4 x 15 minute extra breaks during the day and lighter work. Amazon did grant them, but the complaint is that they didn't do it fast enough. There's also something of a disagreement where she expected to be paid for the extra hour of break time every day, but Amazon was counting it as unpaid. She was reassigned to lighter work at her request,…

>"Reporting" - well that art is being lost and click-baits are how "reporters" get their money

[deleted]

Re: Amazon refused to give pregnant workers bathroom breaks

#54

Post by black6 »

genxy wrote: post #33
black6 wrote: post #26

It amuses me when adults need permission to perform basic human needs because a small group will always take advantage of common courtesy and ruin it for everyone else. When I was in grade school I pissed my pants in the library because the librarian wouldn't let me go to the bathroom. We both learned a lesson that day. I learned to seek forgiveness over permission, and she learned that sometimes kids aren't bullshit…

I believe you have it reversed sir, we are at the mercy of the top 0.5% I doubt the librarian learned anything.

The warehouse manager certainly isn't in the top 0.5%. Ask yourself why bathroom break policies exist in the first place.

Re: Amazon refused to give pregnant workers bathroom breaks

#55

Post by ryandrake »

stuaxo wrote: post #29

It didn't take long for people to appear in here to say it's not too bad.

HN has a sizable contingent of commenters who reliably show up to defend billion and trillion dollar corporations and reprehensible corporate behavior. I honestly can't explain it without alleging astroturf.

Re: Amazon refused to give pregnant workers bathroom breaks

#56

Post by xyzelement »

ang_cire wrote: post #9
xyzelement wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds right. On the flip side there are jobs where random bathroom breaks don't really work. EG: bus driver. So I am actually not sure how that works for a pregnat bus driver. Letting her randomly stop the bus at rush hour to pee doesn't seem fair to the commuters. Probably in practice pregnant bus drivers get assigned to a short route or something like that. I don't know the nature of Amazon warehouse work. It's po…

You've never been on a bus where the driver had to stop to go use the restroom? There is no prohibition against that.

Correct. In however long I've taken transit in NYC, I have never experienced a bus driver stepping out to pee, nor had a subway train held up for that reason. I am sure it happens, and I just read up on the rules around that - but the defacto is that this causes disruptions to passengers and the system and the employees do their best to hold it in and pee at the terminus.

I am glad that the rules allow bathroom breaks when emergent but the fact that people try to minimize it tells you something as well.

Re: Amazon refused to give pregnant workers bathroom breaks

#57

Post by xyzelement »

kotaKat wrote: post #5
xyzelement wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds right. On the flip side there are jobs where random bathroom breaks don't really work. EG: bus driver. So I am actually not sure how that works for a pregnat bus driver. Letting her randomly stop the bus at rush hour to pee doesn't seem fair to the commuters. Probably in practice pregnant bus drivers get assigned to a short route or something like that. I don't know the nature of Amazon warehouse work. It's po…

Turns out depending on the metro they already solved that problem. Just let them piss. They actually do let bus operators randomly stop the bus at rush hour to pee in some cities. In Ottawa (Ontario), for instance, as long as an operator is within their 5 minute "late standard" window, they can stop and make a quick pee break or Timmy's break as long as they keep the bus in time. The busses lock down with a PIN when…

Thank you for this informative comment.

Re: Amazon refused to give pregnant workers bathroom breaks

#58

Post by xyzelement »

nilsherzig wrote: post #18
xyzelement wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds right. On the flip side there are jobs where random bathroom breaks don't really work. EG: bus driver. So I am actually not sure how that works for a pregnat bus driver. Letting her randomly stop the bus at rush hour to pee doesn't seem fair to the commuters. Probably in practice pregnant bus drivers get assigned to a short route or something like that. I don't know the nature of Amazon warehouse work. It's po…

If you really wanted to optimize something involving living consciousness beings like a machine, at least you should consider things like the need to take a piss as a hard constraint and design the system around it. Don't get me wrong I love factorio like the next guy and understand the idea behind your thinking, but there should be limits to that thinking in the real world. And if that doesn't convince you consider…

// Honestly - and I don't mean that as an insult - I hope for you to experience (just once) the loss of dignity that not being able to visit the restroom on your own decision will give you. Might make you realize the hell this kind of thinking leads to.

I am not insulated and I think my post was received stronger than I intended, with my point being simply that there are jobs where physical presence at a given moment is more significant than in knowledge work for example (say whatever you want, bus drivers and others defacto hold it in if possible to avoid disruptions at least here in NYC)

And to be frank even at my job which is very removed from bus driving or warehouse work there are moments where I would feel self-pressure to hold it in short of a dire emergency.

(Eg, I am on stage at a speaker panel or something like that where my absence would be visible and disruptive)

Re: Amazon refused to give pregnant workers bathroom breaks

#59

Post by tennisflyi »

throw_m239339 wrote: post #36
hereme888 wrote: post #30

Adults need permission to use a restroom?!

*slaves do. Amazon big shots must be laughing at these people who have no choice but to accept these work conditions to make ends meet, so hard. They must talk about these people like they are garbage, peasants, when Amazon yuppies are among themselves... That's what shocked me the most when I was doing odd jobs, the contempt, the disdain.

[flagged]

Re: Amazon refused to give pregnant workers bathroom breaks

#60

Post by genxy »

black6 wrote: post #54
genxy wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe you have it reversed sir, we are at the mercy of the top 0.5% I doubt the librarian learned anything.

The warehouse manager certainly isn't in the top 0.5%. Ask yourself why bathroom break policies exist in the first place.

No the warehouse manager most definitely punches down, just like their boss wants them to. Don't punch down, punch up.
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