Four thousand workers at a North Carolina Amazon warehouse are voting from February 10 to 15 on whether to unionize with Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity & Empowerment (CAUSE).
RDU1, in the town of Garner, outside Raleigh, would be the second unionized Amazon warehouse in the United States.
It’s an ambitious campaign. The workers are organizing across racial and ethnic divides, through constant turnover, in deeply hostile terrain. At 2.4 percent, North Carolina’s union density is the lowest in the country.
They’ll also need to overcome widespread fear of something Amazon is notorious for: retaliation. In January, Amazon abruptly outsourced its entire Quebec operation rather than be forced to accept a contract at one warehouse.
In North Carolina, it has fired several visible union supporters, including CAUSE president Rev Ryan Brown.
On January 7, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that workers at RDU1 had signed enough union authorization cards to trigger an election.
“Three days later, Amazon mobilized an army,” said Marcela Duron, a stower. (Duron requested a pseudonym for fear of retaliation.) “Holding meetings, handing out pamphlets, all against CAUSE.”
Anti-union posters started showing up all over the building, even in the bathrooms. New faces appeared on the warehouse floor asking how workers felt about the union. Workers received a mailer at home linking to an anti-union website and urging them to vote no.
“If you’re on the floor talking to somebody, they will be there waiting like vultures to get to…
Auteur: Natascha Elena Uhlmann
