Amazon admits some drivers do urinate in bottles

[hans solo]

so where do we go and what do we do when they force 5hr delivery spans on us
especially single walking duties with lwt and hct trollies
health and safety issues being brushed under the carpet by cwu and rm
every duty should be risk assessed for this
the response from rm when quizzed was were looking into it

[derekm]

Never mind when 5 hr delivery spans come in just now it’s a joke with pubs, comm centres and clubs closed it’s a nightmare when caught short

[Celgar]

There was a discussion about how Amazon treat their delivery drivers on News night on BBC2 last Thursday. Their employment practices along with those of some other companies have been under the spotlight for years now. I in no way defend how they treat their staff but RM are following the same path and are not far off how Amazon acts.

With the ongoing Covid situation we have been really busy for other a year now and it is entirely possible the public will not go back to 'the high street' afterwards leaving us rushed off our feet forever. Some of us are already on between six & seven hour delivery spans as we are routinely going over duty time now. At the same time RM want to base any changes and cuts to office hour budgets based on a time period before Covid was imported into the UK.

It is reported that Amazon drivers have to urinate in bottles and have nowhere to go to the toilet. This is the same situation for RM delivery staff as some posties have been doing this in our DO. We either have to hold it in or make a half hour round trip back to the delivery office. Meanwhile we were read pages of rules the other day one of which told us to make sure we drink plenty of water and eat food while on delivery!! I don't generally eat or drink anything between eating a bowl of Weetabix at 0600 and when I return to the delivery office which can be 1500. To be honest we need more hours put back into the office budgets and not six to eight percent of the hours taken away plus another hour stolen over the week for the joke SWW from the CWU.

[grchpo]

I would love a 5 hr delivery span, bring it on !!!!

[TheTrolleyMan]

Surely it's up to Delivery Planners / CWU to make sure. Toilet break time is build into duties

[Dexydog]

We have officially had a 4 and a half hour delivery span agreed for our revision.
The CWU area rep and safety rep were in the meeting.
It has been stated that this delivery span is the longest that would work for our unit. (which include rurals, the furthest of which is a 20 minute drive away).
God knows how long they wanted them.
Question is, if the safety rep was in there, why was the toilet issue not addressed???

[fb1969]

RM don't care, CWU don't care.

[Dexydog]

I suppose it's pretty simple.
Return to office for a pee half way.
Probably 25 minutes out of our delivery span.
For the furthest away rural, that's 45 minutes.
If the duty doesn't get finished, what can they say??

[smok3y666]

I'll do what I usually do either find somewhere private and piss or go back the depot.

[Cucumber]

We have officially had a 4 and a half hour delivery span agreed for our revision.
The CWU area rep and safety rep were in the meeting.
It has been stated that this delivery span is the longest that would work for our unit. (which include rurals, the furthest of which is a 20 minute drive away).
God knows how long they wanted them.
Question is, if the safety rep was in there, why was the toilet issue not addressed???

Is 4.5 hours much different from what you were doing already?
Did you get to keep or better your attendance patterns with that?
The reason I ask is I'm trying to gauge what might be on the table as we haven't been told anything about our upcoming revision.

[Dexydog]

Tbh I'm not sure what the delivery spans are as they stand now.
Some of walks are literally 2 hours longer than others now due to new builds just being lumped on certain walks because there's nowhere else to put them- they just get done as and when from what I can tell.
Regardless of what the spans are now, isn't 4 and a half hours without a pee being even taken into account too long?
I mean, this was agreed with CWU health and and safety rep present- I wonder how long he can go without having to think about what he does if he gets caught short.
One thing is for sure, our wellbeing just isn't thought about- with the wording of the agreement we have, it was obvious the span would have been longer if they could have got away with it.

[Grumpyoldmailman]

It’s if I need a number 2 that concerns me more. I drive back to the office (15 mins away) if there is nowhere to go, only been challenged by a manager once, I said he could come and have a look at it after I had done if he didn’t believe me. Funny enough it hasn’t been questioned since and neither is the extended ot to allow for it either.

[Shirtbuttons]

So all you lot who pee out on delivery and now what with COVID, where do you wash your hands thoroughly? I’d go back to the office, my health means more to me.

[Tinoblade]

So all you lot who pee out on delivery and now what with COVID, where do you wash your hands thoroughly? I’d go back to the office, my health means more to me.

I carry a water bottle and a bottle of hand wash

[Dexydog]

I think the point is no-one should be peeing in bottles or anything other than a toilet.
Go back to the office, do whatever you need to do, and go back out.
At the end of the day what can they say??