Scott Martelle Los Angeles Times Well, it was a valiant effort, that drive to organize workers at an Amazon facility in Bessemer, Ala., which resulted in a defeat even more embarrassing than the vote count suggests. Nearly 6,000 workers would have been covered by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, but only a little more than half of the eligible workers bothered to vote. Of those who cast ballots, only 738 workers supported the union, 1,000 votes fewer than those who opposed. Another 500 ballots werenât counted after being challenged (mostly by management), but even if you add all of those to the âyesâ side (highly unlikely), that would mean a maximum of 20% of the workers voted to unionize, and the percentage in reality is probably much lower.