An Amazon employee sold his urine on Amazon — and topped the sales list — at work

FORMER deputy journalist Aoobah Butler has made a name for herself in the UK as a real-life con artist. He gained notoriety when in 2017 he tricked food critics and trendy foodies in London into asking for a table at his restaurant. The fictitious restaurant “The Shed”.

Now the e-commerce giant has taken on Amazon in a similar way. In order to shed light on working conditions at the company, he delved into one of Amazon’s most talked-about scandals – employee scandals. Had to urinate in bottles Because of the high pace of work.

“No options”

The work led to the program The Amazon Grand Theft Which was broadcast on the British Channel 4 last Thursday.

-I had the same relationship with Amazon as many others my age. I knew it wasn’t good, but I used it anyway with the excuse that there were no alternatives, says Ubah Butler to Arbitit.

According to him, the whole project started when he read the book Land of moneywhich describes how multinational corporations have developed increasingly sophisticated methods to avoid paying taxes.

-I was quite impressed with the technical side of tax fraud. Amazon’s tax fraud is well known, so that was really my entry point, he says.

Full bottles of urine

The idea for the urine bottles came while he was outside an Amazon center in Los Angeles working on a tax evasion angle. Everywhere along the road outside the center are tall bottles filled with urine.

According to Obah Butler, the reason they lie on the ground is because some centers have developed a system of punishment when drivers are found with urine bottles. In order not to be detected, drivers instead throw them out the window.

– It hit me how crazy it is. We know this is happening but we have become so numb that we are allowed to carry on anyway, says Ubah Butler and continues:

Then came the idea of ​​trying to manipulate Amazon’s own platform and sell urine there as an energy drink. No matter what they think of their employees’ circumstances, they care about selling.

Its name is energy release

He said and did. The ‘drink’ has been given the appropriate name Release Energy, complete with a stylish logo and contents list dedicated to urine. Since Oobah Butler did not have a license to sell food and drinks on the platform, he first posted the product in a section of the page where you could buy bottled water.

But after sales took off, the company itself shifted it to the beverage and food category.

-It also refers to something. Licensing requirements do not matter. Ubah Butler says there are examples of toxic caramel colors being sold in thousands of bottles.

Release Energy quickly reached the top of the sales chart along the way. Despite hundreds of taps, no one has ever tasted the best-selling drink, confirms Obah Butler.

“We had a closed system where we knew who ordered and made sure the orders were cancelled,” he says.

Valrav with hidden camera

In a program It is also performed on the classic Wallraff using hidden camera. For three days Ubah Butler worked at an Amazon center in Coventry before he was discovered.

He was later told that his hiring was part of a deliberate tactic on Amazon’s part. By employing as many people as possible, the GMB union’s attempt to negotiate a collective agreement can be stopped.

In order to obtain this right, at least 50 percent of employees must be members of a union. As the number of employees increased, the percentage of organized employees simply decreased. Ubah Butler describes the entire experience at the center as “heartbreaking.”

-It was very stressful and hot. It feels more like a prison than a factory, he says and concludes:

– Personally, I come from the central regions, where Amazon has established itself and where many are desperately looking for jobs. In this way, they feel grateful to Amazon. But this does not mean that they do not want to maintain their dignity.