At the sprawling Amazon warehouse in Garner, workers are mobilizing to form a union, a venture that echoes a broader national conversation around labor rights and corporate accountability. The group spearheading this movement, Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment (C.A.U.S.E.), began seeking union authorization cards from their colleagues immediately after Labor Day, according to ABC11. To trigger a union election, at least 30% of the workforce must sign these cards, a threshold dictated by the National Labor Relations Board.

Amazon spokespersons have publicly claimed that the company offers competitive wages, comprehensive health benefits, and paths for career advancement – the very benefits, they assert, that many union efforts aim to secure. Yet, workers like Ryan Brown, speaking at a recent press conference, express a contrasting narrative. "We feel disrespected, we feel mistreated," he underscored on ABC11, a sentiment echoed by organizers who speak of a climate of inadequate compensation and poor treatment. This discontent among workers is not isolated to anecdotal reports; it has become the rallying cry behind the unionization campaign.

Mary Hill, a four-year veteran at the RDU1 center and the Vice President of C.A.U.S.E., once found pride in ensuring the delivery of packages throughout the pandemic. Her initial enthusiasm has since been overtaken by disillusionment with management's demeanor. "After about four, maybe five months, I started seeing how the managers talked to you with such disrespect, just lack of common decency," she told CBS17.

The push for unionization at the Garner facility isn't a sudden uprising; it's the result of over two years of concerted effort. The high employee turnover at the RDU1 warehouse, which employs an estimated 3,500 to 6,000 individuals, notably complicates organizer's outreach efforts. Despite known challenges in rallying a transient workforce, the campaign is gaining ground. Union supporters are aiming not just for the minimum threshold for an election but a substantive majority that could effectively pressure the company to negotiate, as Brian Gordon of The News & Observer reported.