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Amazon’s Win Delivers a Stinging Defeat to the U.S. Labor Movement

Unionizing the company’s Bessemer, Ala., warehouse became a rallying cry for worker advocates, but that wasn’t enough.

A demonstrator holds a sign outside the Amazon fulfillment warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., on March 29.

A demonstrator holds a sign outside the Amazon fulfillment warehouse in Bessemer, Ala., on March 29.

Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images 

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The union loss against Amazon.com Inc. in Bessemer, Ala. marks a stinging defeat for the U.S. labor movement, one made all the more painful by its familiarity.

In recent decades, top nonunion American companies have been virtually impervious to organizing efforts, particularly those that come down to elections overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. That trend continued at Amazon’s warehouse in Bessemer, where workers voted 1,798 to 738 against joining the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union. While 505 disputed ballots remain unopened, they won’t reverse the outcome, announced Friday.