The outcome was a setback for workers trying to score a second election success at an Amazon facility. The union vowed to keep trying to organize.The New York Times reports that workers at an Amazon facility in North Carolina faced a setback in their efforts to unionize, as the National Labor Relations Board announced on Saturday that the majority of workers voted against the union. The union, Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment (CAUSE), was founded by warehouse workers in 2022 and had sought higher wages, longer lunch breaks, and increased vacation time for its members.
The workers at the RDU1 fulfillment center in Garner, which employs over 4,000 people, voted 2,447 to 829 against unionizing. According to Amazon, the current pay range for workers is between $18 to $24 per hour, while the union had demanded a starting wage of $30 per hour. In response to the outcome, leaders of CAUSE stated that Amazon’s “relentless and illegal efforts to intimidate us” had influenced the election results. However, they did not mention whether they would challenge the outcome and vowed to continue their efforts to organize.
Amazon spokesperson Eileen Hards expressed the company’s satisfaction with the workers’ decision to maintain a direct relationship with Amazon. Leading up to the election, CAUSE had filed charges with the labor relations board, accusing Amazon of interfering with employees’ protected union activity. The union also claimed that the company had given preferential treatment to workers who did not support the union and had unfairly fired one of the union’s co-founders one week before workers filed for a union election in December.
Source:Read More