<p>A contentious unionisation drive at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama failed as a vote count Friday showed a wide majority of workers rejecting the move.</p>.<p>In a vote count seen online, National Labor Relations Board officials counted more than 1,608 "no" votes shortly before 1500 GMT, representing a majority of the 3,215 ballots cast.</p>.<p>Slightly more than 600 votes favoured the unionisation effort organised by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.<br /><br /><strong>Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/how-big-is-amazon-in-the-us-really-971813.html" target="_blank">How big is Amazon in the US, really?</a></strong></p>.<p>The results cap a bitterly contested, months-long organizing drive which drew national attention and would have resulted in the first union at a US-based Amazon facility.</p>.<p>Activists and political leaders supported the union drive, citing concerns over a high-pressure environment in which workers are constantly monitored.</p>.<p>Amazon contended that a majority did not want a union, and claimed that it already delivered above-average benefits and salary.</p>.<p>The union said it would challenge the outcome, saying that Amazon "created an atmosphere of confusion, coercion and/or fear of reprisals and thus interfered with the employees' freedom of choice."</p>
<p>A contentious unionisation drive at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama failed as a vote count Friday showed a wide majority of workers rejecting the move.</p>.<p>In a vote count seen online, National Labor Relations Board officials counted more than 1,608 "no" votes shortly before 1500 GMT, representing a majority of the 3,215 ballots cast.</p>.<p>Slightly more than 600 votes favoured the unionisation effort organised by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.<br /><br /><strong>Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/how-big-is-amazon-in-the-us-really-971813.html" target="_blank">How big is Amazon in the US, really?</a></strong></p>.<p>The results cap a bitterly contested, months-long organizing drive which drew national attention and would have resulted in the first union at a US-based Amazon facility.</p>.<p>Activists and political leaders supported the union drive, citing concerns over a high-pressure environment in which workers are constantly monitored.</p>.<p>Amazon contended that a majority did not want a union, and claimed that it already delivered above-average benefits and salary.</p>.<p>The union said it would challenge the outcome, saying that Amazon "created an atmosphere of confusion, coercion and/or fear of reprisals and thus interfered with the employees' freedom of choice."</p>