Published
February 19, 2025
In a blow to organized labor’s ongoing efforts to unionize employees at Amazon facilities, an independent union last week lost a representation vote at a fulfillment center in Garner, NC by a margin of around 3:1.
The union, which dubs itself as Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment, or CAUSE, reportedly has been trying to organize this facility since early 2022, but after three years apparently it couldn’t provide much of a cause for Amazon’s employees to sign up for it.
According to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which oversees union representation elections, approximately 4,300 Amazon workers were eligible to cast ballots in the election, which was held last week from Monday to Saturday. Of those, 2,447 workers cast ballots against union representation while 829 voted in favor of joining the independent union.
Despite the decisive vote against representation, CAUSE resorted to the same familiar playbook of accusing Amazon of “disgusting union busting.” Similarly, one CAUSE organizer—a so-called “Activist-in-Residence” at Arizona State University—lamented the fact that labor leaders have not invested enough resources in “labor’s existential struggle to organize at Amazon.”
What they didn’t point out, however, was that much of the push to organize came from another university anthropology professor who embedded himself inside the facility while also enjoying the luxury of living in the proverbial ivory tower at the University of North Carolina.
As this blog noted not too long ago, organized labor has indeed seen a steady, 70-year decline, reaching a record low union membership rate of 5.9% in the private sector in 2024, despite the concerted “whole of government” approach the erstwhile Biden-Harris administration took to facilitate union membership.
There are likely many reasons for potential members to be skeptical of joining a union, but one of them is the value proposition relative to the alternative. In other words, if Amazon employees did not think their employer treated them well, joining a union might make sense, whereas forking over dues to unaccountable union bosses apparently does not seem like such a good idea to most of them.
About the authors
Sean P. Redmond
Sean P. Redmond is Vice President, Labor Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
