Amazon Faces New Union Test In North Carolina

North Carolina has historically been hostile to unions. Amazon has also been staunchly anti-union.

A win by the union—Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment (CAUSE)—at the Garner, North Carolina facility would mark only the second Amazon facility in the U.S. to vote for union representation. I Photo: CAUSE X

Now, a grassroots labor group is attempting to represent more than 4,000 Amazon workers at one of the company’s facilities in the state, Chris Isidore reported for CNN. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is overseeing a six-day vote, which began on Monday, with ballots set to be counted on Saturday.

A win by the union—Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment (CAUSE)—at the Garner, North Carolina facility would mark only the second Amazon facility in the U.S. to vote for union representation, following a 2022 election at a Staten Island, New York sorting and distribution center.

Amazon, the nation’s second-largest private-sector employer, has faced increasing unionization pressure in recent months.

Despite North Carolina having the lowest percentage of union membership among all U.S. states—only 2.4% of workers belong to unions, less than one-quarter of the national average—CAUSE leaders remain confident about their chances.

“As you can imagine, Amazon has been doing everything possible to make sure we don’t win,” said Italo Medelius-Marsano, an Amazon worker and one of the union campaign leaders, in an interview with CNN.

“The amount of money Amazon is pouring into this, the people they’re flying in to take us on, the propaganda—all of that tells us they’re scared. That fear tells us they know we’re on the verge of something great.”