March 20, 2008 7:18 AM
Some Qwest workers P.O.'d over potty bags
Qwest workers who need a potty break have three options: hold it, find a public bathroom or bag it.
The company has been distributing portable urinal bags for years but some employees and their union are P.O.'d about it.
Jeff Smith reports:
A Qwest supervisor in southwestern Colorado took his concerns over extended bathroom breaks to an uncomfortable level, union officials charge.The manager, they claim, recently gave disposable urinal bags to about 25 male field technicians with the message: When you have to go, don't waste time searching for a public bathroom.
"We deal with a lot of silliness in corporate America, but you've got to admit, it takes the freakin' cake," said Reed Roberts, an administrative director at the Communications Workers of America District 7.
Qwest spokeswoman Jennifer Barton said, "There's no policy whatsoever" requiring field technicians to use the bags.
"They are there for convenience, and they are there because employees asked for them," she said.
Qwest says employees have asked for the potty pouches. Would you use them? Should companies require them as a way to boost productivity and keep employees from searching out public bathrooms?
Brief Relief, whose products are used by Qwest, touts their product as a cost-saving bonanza.
Take the following example of an actual utility company using Brief Relief™ products.Number of outside field employees 500
Weekly time lost finding a restroom per person 1 hour
Total weekly hours lost 500
Hourly wage incl. hidden costs from operational downtime* $50.00Annual Operational Downtime Costs $1,300,000
500X50 = $25,000 in weekly costs.By providing their employees with only two Brief Relief™ pouches on a weekly basis this company offsets this incredible cost and save themselves an estimated $1,183,000 per year!
Brief Relief also quotes "Dr. Bob" on the health benefits of drinking a lot of water.
Exactly how and where do you use these things? Pull over to the side of the road? Relieve yourself while you're in the truck? And what about disposal? Where do our presidential candidates stand on this crucial issue? And if you're over 50, have you read this item without having to take a potty break?
March 20, 2008
8:05 AM
Thomas Crapper for President, Ty-D-Bowl man for VP writes:
I guess you could say they're pretty pissed over this...
March 20, 2008
8:43 AM
Stand and wave writes:
I used those bags for years and often times would do a "double pee" to fill them to maximum size. It was amazing how they would explode when thrown out of the moving van and hit a large highway sign. The jell compound, now a light yellow color, would lazily run down the sign. Yeah, CDOT guys, that was me. I gained much skill with my drive-by piss bombs.
Mark, the pouches were asked for by employees. The white trucks, at least the one I drove, would take on a yellowish cast during the winter from the blown back urine thrown out the truck window via full coffee cup. I guess you could say that I contributed to the ambiance of Commerce City.
March 20, 2008
8:52 AM
ML writes:
Hey Mark, what's with the wisecrack about folks over 50? I'm over 50, and, uhhh, excuse me...gotta go!
March 20, 2008
9:14 AM
Anonymous writes:
Here's what Q will do behind the scenes. They will spend large amounts of money to track company vehicles thru satellite. They'll pay someone to watch where their utility trucks go and send off the alarms during a bathroom detour.
And they never looked at reducing executive payroll to save a buck. As if they had to pay Nachio $100 million to tank the stock to $2. Any grad school flunkie could of done that for pennies in salary.
March 20, 2008
9:50 AM
Shaggy writes:
Hey, look on the bright side. At least they aren't forced to wear NASA diapers while they work.
March 20, 2008
10:26 AM
Holier Than Thou writes:
When I drove a van, I cut a hole in the floor so I could pee when I was in town. This was necessary as I also like to drink a lot of coffee.
One day, a young cowgirl was riding by on her quarterhorse mare and saw my usual stream of urine flowing out just in front of the rear axle.
She shouted, "Hey mister! Is your van a stallion?"
March 20, 2008
10:37 AM
JMH writes:
Qwest is one of the worst companies in the USA. Their customer service sucks, their technicians are overworked and under paid, their CEO's are underworked and WAY overpaid (not to mention a bit corrupt) and now all they are worried about is their tech's taking a restroom break?
Tell you what, when I see Qwest's CEO's urinating in a bag under their desks during a meeting as to not waste any time, they I will say this idea is OK. But I'm pretty sure this will not happen.
This is a prime example of what is wrong with the corporate culture in this country - we have a few little rich boys who probably never had to work a hard days work in thier lives and most who had their rich mommy's and daddy's pay for their high priced schools so they could get to these lofty positions who think that the rest of us in the middle class are their "servants"!
We see this time and time again, some CEO runs his company into the ground through incompitance or corruption and it is all the company workers who do a "knock down" job day in and day out who have to pay for their arrogance and ingnorace in the form of layoffs, cut hours, etc... and the CEO himself then gets to walk away with millions of dollars anyway!
Anyoner wonder why the economy in in the toilet with priorities like this?
March 20, 2008
11:35 AM
jay writes:
Well, Stand...it sounds like the current Qwest employees aren't asking to bag their lunch anymore.
People wonder why Unions are still around...they are but a product of unethical corporations
March 20, 2008
11:55 AM
FLush them out writes:
Qwest is again attempting to save a penny by spending $$$'s. Yes breif relief might save some money in productivity, however the negative public inmpact of employees on the side of the road relieving themselves is disasterous.
Isn't it illegal to urinate in public no matter what your doing it in?
March 20, 2008
12:02 PM
Not Surprised writes:
Once again Qwest is attempting to save penny's by spending $$'s. Sure Breif Relief will save productivity and in return save money, however the negative public perception each time an employee may be on the side of the road as relieving himself is detremental.
I thought it was illegal to relieve yourself in public no matter what you may be doing it in??
Now I wonder if they wash prior to entering our homes???
March 20, 2008
12:36 PM
Bud writes:
Take a plastic zip lock bag with you when flying on puddle jumpers as they don't have bathrooms. I actually know someone who had to pee in a bag on one of those flights.
March 20, 2008
1:02 PM
primafacie writes:
Qwest can hand out all the bags they want. What's to stop an employee from hitting the head wherever they make their coffee stops?
Much ado about nothing.
March 20, 2008
8:23 PM
Anonymous writes:
Anybody know if the bags work for Diarrhea?
March 21, 2008
6:08 AM
harry 2.0 writes:
Uh oh! Urine trouble now!!!
March 21, 2008
1:56 PM
Chris writes:
How exactly does this work? Does the worker look around to make sure no one is nearby, then whips it out and takes care of business? Or do they have "Piddle-Pack" screens for the cubicles?
March 21, 2008
7:33 PM
YELLOW EYES writes:
the qwest spokeswoman said that "there was no policy whatsoever" regarding the use of the urine bags. As a qwest outside technician, I can tell you that this isn't the issue. what we were told in a memo a few weeks ago was to stay away from all company locations throughout the day, due to "lost time". It has also been a longstanding rule to not be "out of route". So, when we have to go to the toilet the choice is to either use the bags or be lucky enough to be close to a public facility that doesn't have a "restrooms for customers, only" sign. So the alternatives are gloomy sometimes... I don't drink a lot of liquid through the day and pee very yellow unhealthy urine at the end of the day, or at the least have leakage stains in my shorts! then, there is the fear of being seen in public, halfway hid, and being reported to the cops. that doesn't even start to address the problems associated with a deuce! By the way, paper shuffling managers at the water cooler, I'm writing this on my own time!
March 22, 2008
11:27 AM
SASQUATCH writes:
Tell the union guys that the "Porta-Dumpers" are the new, mobile DNC shelters that their party plans to use in Denver during the August riots. Expect to see 7,500 of them in the Civic Center. They will provide delegates protection from the water cannons, tear gas, rubber bullets, battons and National Guard.