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Amazon delivery van (archive image): The pandemic has exacerbated some problems
Photo: MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP
The retail group Amazon has voiced false information about the working conditions of its couriers.
A statement on Twitter, according to which Amazon employees do not have to pee in drinks bottles during their delivery tours, has turned out to be an "own goal," the company said in a message and apologized.
Earlier, US MP Mark Pocan, a representative of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives, was furious on Twitter that Amazon couriers were forced to urinate in bottles.
Amazon's reaction was supposedly quick-witted: “You don't really believe the thing about peeing in bottles, do you?
If that were true, no one would work for us, ”said a reply to the tweet.
However, tens of thousands of people work for Amazon, even though they are sometimes forced to urinate in bottles.
The group admitted this in a lengthy statement on Friday.
"We know that our drivers sometimes have problems finding a toilet, be it on remote routes or due to traffic jams." Since many public toilets were closed during the pandemic, the problem got worse.
Amazon said it regretted the brisk reaction to MP Pocan's tweet.
"That was an own goal, and we owe MP Pocan an apology for it," the blog entry says.
The reaction to Twitter only related to the employees in warehouses and logistics centers.
The problem of a lack of toilets affects the entire logistics industry, according to the group, and: "We don't yet know how, but we will look for a solution."
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