Port-a-potty employees picket outside future Amazon site in North Andover

Genevieve DiNatale, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.
·1 min read

Feb. 22—NORTH ANDOVER — A few employees of Flush Services, a port-a-potty rental company, have been picketing outside of 1600 Osgood St., the site of an Amazon distribution facility under construction.

The employees, who are members of Teamsters Local 25, have been picketing for more than a week, said North Andover police Detective Lt. E.J. Foulds.

According to Flush's Chief Operations Officer Shaun Nichols, the site's general contractor — the Whiting-Turner Contracting Company — replaced Flush's services with those of a larger port-a-potty rental company that doesn't utilize unionized workers, called United Site Services.

"These are our union employees, drivers, sanitation workers, they are our working class heroes out there on the frontlines every day," said Nichols. "They are out there looking for support to get back on the job."

According to Nichols, Flush received a complaint from Whiting-Turner about unkept toilets a few weeks ago, around the same time that a large snowstorm struck the region.

"There was a complaint that one week, a couple weeks ago. It was brutally cold weather. We had a snowstorm," said Nichols. "We went up the next day and took care of any issues. The toilets were beautiful."

The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company did not return calls and emails for comment.