London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2025

Amazon aware that workers allegedly pee in water bottles, documents show; company pushes back

Amazon aware that workers allegedly pee in water bottles, documents show; company pushes back

Amazon is aware of its employees reportedly peeing in water bottles and defecating in bags, documents show.

The tech giant suggested in a tweet to Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., that the multiple reports published in recent years -- alleging poor working conditions at Amazon and that employees complained of peeing in water bottles or not having enough time to use the restroom -- were false.

"You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you?" Amazon tweeted Thursday. "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."


The tweet came in response to criticism from Pocan, who accused the company of putting on the facade of being a "progressive workplace."

"Paying workers $15/hr doesn't make you a 'progressive workplace' when you union-bust [and] make workers urinate in water bottles," the congressman said.

Internal documents obtained by digital investigative news outlet The Intercept, and retweeted by New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, show that at least some Amazon management teams were aware of the fact that employees -- and in particular, delivery drivers -- were urinating in water bottles and defecating in bags as a result of not having enough time to use a restroom.


One Pittsburgh-based Amazon employee sent a document labeled "confidential" to the outlet that lists behavior violations, including "public urination" and "public defecation."

The same employee shared an email from an Amazon manager to employees with The Intercept condemning the third instance of a driver defecating in a bag in two months.

"This evening, an associate discovered human feces in an Amazon bag that was returned to station by a driver," the email reads, according to The Intercept. "This is the [third] occasion in the last [two] months when bags have been returned to [the] station with poop inside. We understand that [driver associates] may have emergencies while on-road, and especially during Covid, DAs have struggled to find bathrooms while delivering."


The email continues: "We’ve noticed an uptick recently of all kinds of unsanitary garbage being left inside bags: used masks, gloves, bottles of urine. By scanning the QR code on the bag, we can easily identify the DA who was in possession of the bag last. These behaviors are unacceptable and will result in Tier 1 Infractions going forward. ... I know if may seem obvious, or like something you shouldn’t need to coach, but please be explicit when communicating the message that they CANNOT poop, or leave bottles of urine inside bags."

Another former Amazon delivery driver, Halie Marie Brown, told the outlet that the incidents happen because drivers "are literally implicitly forced to do so, otherwise we will end up losing our jobs for too many 'undelivered packages.'"

An email Brown shared with The Intercept warns employees to check their delivery vans "thoroughly for garbage and urine bottle[s]."

"If you find urine bottle[s], please report to your lead, supporting staff or me. Vans will be inspected by Amazon during debrief[ings] if urine bottle[s] are found, you will be issue[d] an infraction tier 1 for immediate offboarding," the email reads, according to the outlet.

Yet another email from an Amazon manager that a Houston-based driver to The Intercept complains of "several bad accidents, a stolen van" and "drivers leaving piss bottles etc. in the vans."

A number of reporters who have researched allegations of evidence working conditions at Amazon shared proof that employees complained of peeing in water bottles or not having enough time to use the bathroom on Twitter.


Amazon did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Fox News.

Progressive politicians including Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as well as conservative politicians including U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., have increased pressure on Amazon to improve and be more transparent about worker conditions at its facilities. Their pressure comes as workers in Bessemer, Alabama, push a union vote that the company unsuccessfully attempted to delay.

Amazon's official brand account on Twitter has sparred with a number of lawmakers in recent days as the company attempts to vanquish the unflattering allegations.

The company has come under scrutiny after employees across the globe complained of poor working conditions amid COVID-19. On the other hand, Amazon has employed 500,000 global workers in 2020, including seasonal workers, bringing its total workforce to more than 1.3 million, the company announced during its fourth-quarter earnings call. It also reached a trillion-dollar market cap in January,

The company has implemented a number of new COVID-19 safety measures and tests than 700 employees per hour, according to its earnings report. It also allocated $2.5 billion in additional pay for employees, who are paid $15 per hour, in 2020, as well as full health care benefits.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Economy Stalls as Reeves Faces First Budget Test
UK Economy’s Weak Start Adds Pressure on Prime Minister Starmer
UK Government Acknowledges Billionaire Exodus Amid Tax Rise Concerns
UK Budget 2025: Markets Brace as Chancellor Faces Fiscal Tightrope
UK Unveils Strategic Plan to Secure Critical Mineral Supply Chains
UK Taskforce Calls for Radical Reset of Nuclear Regulation to Cut Costs and Accelerate Build
UK Government Launches Consultation on Major Overhaul of Settlement Rules
Google Struggles to Meet AI Demand as Infrastructure, Energy and Supply-Chain Gaps Deepen
Car Parts Leader Warns Europe Faces Heavy Job Losses in ‘Darwinian’ Auto Shake-Out
Arsenal Move Six Points Clear After Eze’s Historic Hat-Trick in Derby Rout
Wealthy New Yorkers Weigh Second Homes as the ‘Mamdani Effect’ Ripples Through Luxury Markets
Families Accuse OpenAI of Enabling ‘AI-Driven Delusions’ After Multiple Suicides
UK Unveils Critical-Minerals Strategy to Break China Supply-Chain Grip
Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” Extends U.K. No. 1 Run to Five Weeks
UK VPN Sign-Ups Surge by Over 1,400 % as Age-Verification Law Takes Effect
Former MEP Nathan Gill Jailed for Over Ten Years After Taking Pro-Russia Bribes
Majority of UK Entrepreneurs Regard Government as ‘Anti-Business’, Survey Shows
UK’s Starmer and US President Trump Align as Geneva Talks Probe Ukraine Peace Plan
UK Prime Minister Signals Former Prince Andrew Should Testify to US Epstein Inquiry
Royal Navy Deploys HMS Severn to Shadow Russian Corvette and Tanker Off UK Coast
China’s Wedding Boom: Nightclubs, Mountains and a Demographic Reset
Fugees Founding Member Pras Michel Sentenced to 14 Years in High-Profile US Foreign Influence Case
WhatsApp’s Unexpected Rise Reshapes American Messaging Habits
United States: Judge Dressed Up as Elvis During Hearings – and Was Forced to Resign
Johnson Blasts ‘Incoherent’ Covid Inquiry Findings Amid Report’s Harsh Critique of His Government
Lord Rothermere Secures £500 Million Deal to Acquire Telegraph Titles
Maduro Tightens Security Measures as U.S. Strike Threat Intensifies
U.S. Envoys Deliver Ultimatum to Ukraine: Sign Peace Deal by Thursday or Risk Losing American Support
Zelenskyy Signals Progress Toward Ending the War: ‘One of the Hardest Moments in History’ (end of his business model?)
U.S. Issues Alert Declaring Venezuelan Airspace a Hazard Due to Escalating Security Conditions
The U.S. State Department Announces That Mass Migration Constitutes an Existential Threat to Western Civilization and Undermines the Stability of Key American Allies
Students Challenge AI-Driven Teaching at University of Staffordshire
Pikeville Medical Center Partners with UK’s Golisano Children’s Network to Expand Pediatric Care
Germany, France and UK Confirm Full Support for Ukraine in US-Backed Security Plan
UK Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods Face Rising Backlash as Pandemic Schemes Unravel
UK Records Coldest Night of Autumn as Sub-Zero Conditions Sweep the Country
UK at Risk of Losing International Doctors as Workforce Exodus Grows, Regulator Warns
ASU Launches ASU London, Extending Its Innovation Brand to the UK Education Market
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Visit China in January as Diplomatic Reset Accelerates
Google Launches Voluntary Buyouts for UK Staff Amid AI-Driven Company Realignment
UK braces for freezing snap as snow and ice warnings escalate
Majority of UK Novelists Fear AI Could Displace Their Work, Cambridge Study Finds
UK's Carrier Strike Group Achieves Full Operational Capability During NATO Drill in Mediterranean
Trump and Mamdani to Meet at the White House: “The Communist Asked”
Nvidia Again Beats Forecasts, Shares Jump in After-Hours Trading
Wintry Conditions Persist Along UK Coasts After Up to Seven Centimetres of Snow
UK Inflation Eases to 3.6 % in October, Opening Door for Rate Cut
UK Accelerates Munitions Factory Build-Out to Reinforce Warfighting Readiness
UK Consumer Optimism Plunges Ahead of November Budget
A Decade of Innovation Stagnation at Apple: The Cook Era Critique
×