London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 16, 2026

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
Reform UK Unveils Plan to Cut Welfare Spending by More Than £50 Billion a Year
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Praised Extinction Rebellion for Doing a 'Great Service'
UK Wildfire Phone Alert Triggers Backlash as Users Switch Off Emergency Warnings
Heathrow Roads Reopen After Burst Water Main Floods Access to Terminals 2 and 3
Former NBA Players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White Say They Will Enter 2027 WNBA Draft
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
Former Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Found Dead Days After Resigning Amid Plagiarism Row
US Appeals Court Rules AI Agent's Website Actions Are Legally Attributed to the User
France's Constitutional Council Blocks Social Media Ban for Children Under 15
Liechtenstein Changes Royal Succession Rules to Allow Women to Inherit the Throne
Women Allege Rape and Sexual Abuse at British Army College for Teenage Recruits
Minnesota: Two independent investigators posed as Muslims (one wearing a burqa) and showed how they could vote in elections without identification.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham Takes Regional Tour to Highlight Local Infrastructure and Environmental Problems
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to the House of Commons
Bank of England Warns Rising Inflation Could Squeeze UK Household Incomes
UK Government Announces £65 Million Aid Package for Farmers Hit by Severe Drought
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in Second Quarter Despite Energy Market Pressures
UK Issues Emergency Alert as Severe Wildfires Spread Across England and Wales
UK and Finland Discuss European Defence and Continued Support for Ukraine
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to the House of Commons
UK Government Deploys Military to Help Fight Wildfires and Bans Disposable Barbecues
UK Records Hottest Day of the Year as Fifth Summer Heatwave Peaks in Southern England
UK Condemns Houthi Actions and Warns of Red Sea Threat to Global Trade
UK and Solomon Islands Open Wildlife Photography Exhibition in Honiara
UK Small Businesses Face Continued Cash Flow and Tax Pressures
Greatham Marsh Restoration Restores Tidal Wetland in Hartlepool After More Than 200 Years
UK Health Regulator Urges University Students to Check Meningitis and Measles Vaccination Status
Mining Remediation Authority Completes Major Ground Stabilization Works in Scottish Community
UK Food Crime Investigators Seize 33 Tonnes of Illegal Food in Multi-Agency Operation
Technical Qualification Uptake Hits Record High as Advanced Mathematics Results Improve
UK Summer Temperatures on Course to Challenge Long-Standing Records, Met Office Says
UK Farmers Bring Forward Cereal Harvests as Drought Threatens Yields
Wildfires Surge Across England and Wales as Fire Chiefs Report Record July
UK Nurses Warn of Heat Risks as Hospital Staff Struggle With Extreme Temperatures
Southern Water Seeks Drought Order for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Amid Water Shortages
UK Heatwave Pushes West London Temperature to 38.1 Degrees as Health Alerts Continue
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in Second Quarter Despite Global Uncertainty
China’s Kimi Launches AI-Focused Credit Card With Agricultural Bank of China and American Express
UK Residents Gather to Watch Rare Partial Solar Eclipse
Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice Faces Criticism Over Legal Threat Against Guardian Journalist
Michael Forsyth Elected Speaker of the House of Lords
Cambridge Researchers Launch £20 Million Human Organoid Drug Testing Programme
Heathrow Loses European Passenger Traffic Lead to Istanbul Airport
Households Near New UK Electricity Pylons to Receive £250 Annual Energy Bill Discount
UK Government Estimates Zero-Hours Contract Ban Could Cost Employers Up to £3 Billion a Year
Robert Jenrick Leaves Conservatives for Reform UK in Major Parliamentary Defection
UK Police Chiefs Urge Government to Block Early Release of Andrew Harper Killers
UK Government Holds Emergency Cobra Meeting as Drought and Heatwave Raise Wildfire Risks
Former Labour Adviser Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for China Held Privileged Access as Top Party Donor
Turkish Parliament Passes Landmark Bill Granting Conditional Amnesty to Disarmed PKK Members
×