AutoZone workers in White Plains, NY will soon begin casting votes in their union election. If they win, their store will become the first unionized AutoZone location in the country, joining UAW Local 259.
Autozone has been fighting the union effort since it became public, pulling out some classic moves from the union-busting playbook: misinformation, surveillance, captive audience meetings, and more.
AutoZone workers are fighting for their fair share. Or, in the words of one organizer, “Our goal is to get compensation, job security, just more things that closely reflect the value that we know that we bring to the company…They’re only going to bargain when you’re together. So we don’t have a choice. Either we’re going to live in poverty and not be able to pay our bills, or we’re going to do this.”
AutoZone is the largest autoparts dealer in the U.S., and netted $2.5 billion in profit last year. Workers’-rights watchdog LaborLab estimates that AutoZone has spent approximately $200k to fight the union effort in White Plains.
Where did that $200k go? The Guardian reported that after the union drive became public, the company flew at least 11 corporate executives out to the White Plains store in order to quash the union effort. Workers were pulled into backrooms for captive audience meetings. One worker’s social media posts about the campaign were watched by AutoZone’s CEO. AutoZone management mailed letters to workers containing false claims that their wages might “go up or down” under a union contract.
Employers like AutoZone need to know that the public is watching–and demanding a free and fair union election for AutoZone workers.
In Solidarity,
The Labor Force
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/18/autozone-new-york-union
https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/general/labortaskforce/docs/508_union-fs-4.pdf
https://www.worklaw.com/blog/unions-winning-nearly-80-of-elections-but-fewer-elections-are-held