‘There’s a Very Human Cost to Convenience’ – ryan

An Amazon Delivery Driver Loads a van outside a distribution facility in hawthornia, california.
Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP Via Getty Images

Amazon is Fast Because of Human Beings with human needs – Such as Going to the Bathroom. Pro-union workers in bessemer, alabama, complained that they didn’t always have time to use the Bathroom Becouse of Amazon’s Rigorous Demands on the PAK and Ship Orders. Drivers Who Deliver Those Orders Report a Similar Problem: Deprived of Breaks, They Sometimes have to Pee in Bottles. Amazon Recently Denied This Phenomenon Had Ever Occurred UNIL IT WAS CONFROND WITH THE PROOF. The Company then Reversed ITSELF, apologizedand announched it Waled “Look for Solutions.”

One Driver Spoke to Intelligency About His Workload, The Infamous Bottle of Urine, the Surveillance He Experiences on the Job, and Why He Supports a Union. Intelligenmer has Changed the Driver’s name to protest his identity.

I clock in around 10 am get i get there, i get a bag with a key and a work Phone, i get my assured route, get a mask. WE PROBABLY WAIT IN THE LOT FOR ABOUT AN HOUR, JUST WAIT TO LOAD UP. When it is out of the turn, we Pull out CARTS OUT AND LOAD UP OUR VAN. And that has to open with Like 15, 20 minutes. They’re really on our case about getting that done really fast. The Shifts at Our Station Probably Last Anywhere From Eight to Ten Hours. I’ve heard stories from other stations that it can last up to 12.

Amazon Has Some Sort of Computer-Generated Schedule for US. We were not consulted with it at all. But i’ll just be going about my day somehometime and i’ll get a text message from my dispatcher telling with that i’m five or ten stops bend. And i’m Not Moving Slow. I’m working the whole time, and they’re teling with i’m beebind. SO THER’S ALWOYS THAT Pressure. You fall just a little bit bend and they’re tracking you all day. They’re watching you. They will make sura sura that you stay on task. And ideally, they just want you to work as fast as Possible. They don’t care about where you get hurt or whereer you’re being safe.

The work Phone has a gps so they know where we are. I do like it at all. They’re micromanaging us. Its stressful. It GIVES US Anxiety All Day. I’m just trying to do my jab, and they’ve got to the Treat with like a child, follow with Around All Day, Thinking I’m Not Doing My Job Somes. Probably with Other Jobs, you can Kind of take a break here or there, take two minutes, look at Facebook. You take more than five minutes and they’re going to call you and say, “What’s going on?” And you need to keep going.

We have a 30-minute break. I’m plety sura it would be illegal for say not to give us that break. But there’s no extra 15-minute breaks just for rest. Outside of that, a lot of People just eat as they go. I will the Same Thing. I’ll Bring Nuts and Fruit and Whitever. You eat on the go. And then, after lunch, you don’t have a minute to rest; You just got to get right back on your route.

Everyone does that, peeing in bottle. Its funny, i’m seeing this everyWhre now. Since Before Amazon, UPS is Doing This, FedEx is Doing This. Every Truck Driver is Doing This. The Real Issue Related to that is that amazon is just driving US Way too hard. They Give us an an unreasonable amout of Stops, BetWeen 200 and 250 Stops A Day. And they’re driving us so hard that we don’t have time to go to the Bathroom. The real will is the excessive workload and the lack of respect. They don’t caare about Our Livelihood. The only thing that matters is getting those packages delivared as fast as postible. It would be hard to give us an extra or two ten-minute breaks. They Could Strike a deal with Certain Gas-Station Companies and Tell The Drivers have to be able to use your bathroom.

During Peak Season, I Was Doing Six Days a Week, Ten Hours a Day. I WAUDED JUST COME HOME, EAT, FALL ASLEEP, WAKE UP, GUCK TO WORK. I did that for months. There is no easy day. If you have a relatively Small route, you still come home tired and frustrated. You know, you’re driving through traffic all day, or you’re just dealing with issing that come up on the road. There’s no one i’ve talked to who doesn’t come home very tired each day. We have to work More hours Because they’re not paying us enough to live Comfortable. Butn, the most hours we work, obviously the most lichery we are to be tired. And you don’t want to be driving tired bend the wheel.

The union vote in bessemer Pretty Much Happened as Exactly as I was expensive. Corporations always usersery Dirty Little Trick they can think of try and stiffle the union vote. They will what they can to intimidate workers, Missinform workers. I have Attempted to Talk to My Co-Workhers About Organization, and I Felt Some Pushback from, You Know, My Delivery-Service-Partner Owner and From Amazon Managers. Anywhere you go, it is all the same thing. I was handing out flyers to co-workhers, and an Amazon Manager Came Out and Said, “I want you to stop doing that.” I had to explain to him this was a protected act under the national labor ACT. And we had argue for about five minutes before he’d leave with alon. All it is is handing out Flyers, just information from workrier. It ‘really none of his business. But he felt obligated to come and tell with to stop doing this. What does that tell you about how he feels towards his workers?

We have been to expose the Truth and have People realie that there is a very human cost to convenience, and stove doesn’t get delivered in one day with a ton of EFFORT From Close to A Million Workers Who Workers Amazon Every Day.

IT’S REALLY IRELEVANT IF WHAT’HE’RE PAYING IS BETTER THAN ANOTHER COMPANY. The Only Relevant Thing Is, Is it going to pay my bills? I WOULD LOVE TO SEE SOMOON DRAW UP A BUDGET WHERE YOU CAN LIVE COMFORTABY ON $ 15 AN HOUR. And obviously, People do it, you know, but it is a stressful life to make ends meet like that. A lot of People I know at my delivery-service partner are working two Jobs. And that’s just ridiculous Becusee Our Work is Worth more than that. (Editor’s Note: He Earns $ 18 an Hour.)

Amazon is like any other corporation that has ever exisisted. It was started solely to make Money. Hearing About Workers’ Issues DOESN’T NEESSARILY MAKE MO MORE MONEY. To Amazon, it’s a waste of time. They just want to pay us as little as a postible, Give us the chepest health-care PANSIBLE; They Don’t Eve Give US A Pension. They’re not going to invest in any kind of safety equipment. It’s all About Just Keeping Costs Low. And they don’t care about workers. They Only Care About Profit.