What happened this month in Besummer, Alabama was supposed to have ripple effects around the country.

The Amazon warehouse in Besummer has become ground zero for one of the most contentious union fights in modern American history.

Workers at a single Amazon warehouse were headed towards a high stakes vote on whether or not to join a union.

Amazon employees hundreds of thousands of Americans. When you look at these warehouse jobs, they've become basically the new factory jobs in America.

But in Alabama, some workers said those jobs didn't pay enough for long, grueling hours with little time for breaks.

Workers all over this country are going to be saying if these people in Alabama could take on the wealthiest guy in the world, we can do it as well.

The unionization effort got a ton of national and international attention.

Senator Bernie Sanders endorsed the effort and so did Republican Marco Rubio, even President Biden weighed in.

The unions put power in the hands of workers. They level the playing field. They give you a stronger voice.

This was seen as the most consequential labor dispute in years. Amazon is now the country's second largest private employer run by the richest man in the world.

And its growth has been accelerated by this pandemic.

Is this kind of a David versus Goliath scenario?

I really love that analogy, Alex. It is David versus Goliath. And there's tips.

A successful vote to unionize, the first in the entire company would have been a huge deal.

The vote count is in and Amazon has won enough votes. Beat the union effort in Alabama.

In the end?

By more than two to one margin.

It wasn't even close.

Employees voted against joining a union. The campaign to unionize had been seen as a potential turning point in labor relations in the US.

I think organizing a union under current labor law is extremely challenging.

It's very difficult and the odds are always stacked against you.

Rebecca Given is a labor studies professor at Rutgers University.

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