The company has yet to apologize to its workers.
Sorry Not Sorry
Amazon has issued a rare public apology related to its whole creating-a-harmful-and-oppressive-work-environment-that-forces-employees-to-urinate-in-bottles problem — but it wasn’t aimed at its workers.
After the tech company was caught lying to Rep. Mark Pocan and denying that Amazon workers don’t pee in bottles because of how oppressive working conditions are, they admitted that they weren’t "accurate" about their claims, according to The Verge.
"This was an own-goal, we’re unhappy about it, and we owe an apology to Representative Pocan," the statement posted on the Amazon blog read. It then went on to explain that they did not take into account their drivers who have been known to urinate in water bottles, while also continuing to lie about how employees at their fulfillment centers haven’t had that experience.
You can check out the full apology on the Amazon blog.
Piss-Poor PR
The statement was released on Friday April 2 — more than a week after it posted this tweet in reply to a tweet from Pocan criticizing the company’s abusive management tactics.
1/2 You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? 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.
— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 25, 2021
The tweet was quickly ratio’d to hell and inundated with replies asserting that Amazon’s employees were, in fact, peeing in water bottles due to bad work conditions.
I was the person who found the pee in the bottle. Trust me, it happened. https://t.co/U76UlDRWSO
— James Bloodworth (@J_Bloodworth) March 25, 2021
Peeing at Amazon - or not being able to - is an actual thing. Here's what workers told me. https://t.co/D0lp4pdQ5D https://t.co/eqFiS8WZbG pic.twitter.com/RVLOYezGvE
— Will Evans (@willCIR) March 25, 2021
Delete Your Account
Amazon is actually having a bit of a moment when it comes to Twitter spats defending their onerous management practices as well as decrying union organizing efforts. They’ve even taken to social media to pick fights with the likes of Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren who have been largely critical of the company.
There’s a big difference between talk and action. @SenSanders has been a powerful politician in Vermont for 30 years and their min wage is still $11.75. Amazon’s is $15, plus great health care from day one. Sanders would rather talk in Alabama than act in Vermont.
— Amazon News (@amazonnews) March 26, 2021
In a few instances, sock puppet Twitter accounts have appeared posting anti-union tweets under the guise of being Amazon employees. Among them included an account whose profile picture was actually one of the guys from Dude Perfect.
Amazon didn’t even really try with this one lol pic.twitter.com/Q9dyTzKqns
— Tim Sullivan 🐋 (@timjsully) March 29, 2021
This is a part of a trend that’s been occurring for a few years now of bizarrely-obvious fake Twitter accounts championing Amazon. For a multi-billion dollar company, they sure do have some of the crappiest social media strategies (and also workplace practices).
READ MORE: Amazon apologizes for lying about pee — and attempts to shift the blame [The Verge]
More on Amazon: Those Obviously-Fake Amazon Warehouse Workers are Still Tweeting
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