The National Labor Relations Board granted Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity & Empowerment (CAUSE) approval Jan. 7 to hold a union election, which would make Amazon’s RDU1 fulfillment center in Garner, North Carolina, the first such facility to unionize in the South.
The election is set to take place between Feb. 10 and Feb. 15 at the fulfillment center. If a majority of the roughly 4,800 RDU1 employees vote in favor of CAUSE, Amazon will be required to negotiate in good faith on a contract, according to Professor of Cultural Anthropology Orin Starn.
“It was a real fight to get the election, and it's really hard to form a union in the United States because the laws really do not favor workers who are trying to organize a union,” Starn said. “… It's going to be a pretty hard-fought campaign, and we're just trying to get the message out that we're fighting for workers.”
The organization began its unionization efforts on Labor Day — Sept. 2 — with organizers rallying active RDU1 employees to collect signed union authorization cards to initiate an election. Though the NLRB allows organizations one year to collect the required signatures from 30% of active employees, CAUSE surpassed the threshold number of signatures in four months and filed an election petition Dec. 23.
Throughout the organization’s unionization campaign, CAUSE has demanded a $30 minimum hourly wage, 180 hours a year in paid leave time, a full hour of paid break during shifts, more paid holiday time, accommodations for injured and disabled workers and equal treatment of all workers regardless of sex, race and nationality.
“We're not trying to get rich,” said Rev. Ryan Brown, president of CAUSE and former RDU1 employee. ”We just want to be able to provide for our families and not have to work so many different jobs just to barely get by.”
Despite workers’ demands, Amazon maintains that its benefits are already competitive.
“All full-time employees have access to affordable medical, behavioral health, prescription drug, dental and vision coverage, regardless of their level, tenure or position within the company,” wrote Amazon Public Relations Manager Eileen Hards in a Jan. 10 email to The Chronicle. “Moreover, these benefits start day one, unlike most other large retail competitors — there’s no waiting period before they kick in. Part-time and reduced-time flex workers also have medical benefit options.”
Hards previously wrote in a Nov. 1 email to The Chronicle that Amazon employees “have [always had] the choice of whether or not to join a union.”
Starn, who worked undercover at Amazon for two years to “see what it was really like,” views Amazon’s actions as “union busting.” He cited posters placed around the facility, at least one reading “unions run their businesses with your money.” The company has also hosted voluntary union education sessions where company representatives cautioned warehouse employees about the costs of dues upon joining a union.
In a photo shared by Starn, a digital sign told employees they have “no obligation” to speak to a representative of any group, including a union. He further noted that the company “does not let [workers collect signatures] in the warehouse itself” and that they are only allowed to do so “in the break rooms or through a QR code outside the facility.”
In a statement to the News & Observer, Amazon alleged that CAUSE “has never negotiated a union contract anywhere and has no experience representing workers or their interests.”
Starn also enlisted the help of Duke student volunteers in the unionization effort. Junior Morven Thomson shared her experience engaging with the facility’s workers by “handing out flyers to the cars, which explained what a union authorization card is.”
Thomson further described volunteers’ efforts to alleviate the concerns of the workers, some of whom feared repercussions if they signed in favor of the election.
Amazon is not required to disclose the number of workers in the warehouse, meaning that CAUSE had to estimate the number of signatures needed. A high turnover rate in the facility further complicated the process, as the NLRB does not accept signatures from former employees, even if they signed the card as an active worker.
According to a CAUSE press release, three union-affiliated employees were fired in the past year, including Brown. He feels that the employees were “targeted for termination.”
“[In] my specific case, I was accused of making comments that I never said. I was accused of making racist comments by using the word ‘Uncle Tom,’” Brown alleged. He shared that he found this upsetting, having experienced “cruel racism” throughout his upbringing.
The press release also claims that Amazon called the Garner police on activists who were handing out free food and informing workers about the union. Three people working with CAUSE were arrested at the facility.
Even if CAUSE fares successfully in the election, Starn shared that challenges still lie ahead for the union effort. He pointed to the Amazon facility JFK8, where despite voting to unionize in 2022 and receiving NLRB certification, a contract has not been negotiated. He further alleged that Amazon has not bargained in good faith.
“We have to control the narrative of why we are here, why we need to vote yes and the historical gravity of this moment,” Brown said.
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Vikram Sambasivan is a Trinity first-year and a staff reporter for the news department.