Workers in New York seek to create first AutoZone union as company resists

An AutoZone store in Richmond, California, on 26 February. Photograph: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenAn AutoZone store in Richmond, California, on 26 February. Photograph: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesUS unionsWorkers in New York seek to create first AutoZone union as company resistsCompany may have spent about $200,000 to fight union effort in White Plains, where 11 people can vote to join UAW

Workers at an AutoZone in White Plains, New York, are seeking to become the first store at the US’s largest auto parts retailer to win a union election, set to begin 25 September, despite a heavy-handed union opposition campaign from the company.

LaborLab, a non-profit workers’-rights watchdog, estimates AutoZone has spent around $200,000 to oppose the unionization effort at the White Plains store, where 11 workers are eligible to vote to join the United Auto Workers Local 259. The estimate is based on external attorney costs and internal costs of executive salaries based on reports from workers at the store.

The company has more than 6,800 retail stores in the US and reported a net income of $2.5bn in fiscal year 2025.

Nathan DuCongé has worked at an AutoZone store in White Plains, New York, for about two years, where he started as a sales associate making minimum wage.

“I just remember that being very low, but I needed it very badly, and so I accepted the job,” said DuCongé. “For a job that just essentially pays minimum wage, it just makes no sense, that you’re doing all of this work, which essentially is service sales, and you’re also expected to upsell certain products too.”

He explained that the idea to unionize came from the low pay and working conditions, but took off after he attended an Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee training session and met an organizer with United Auto Workers.

David Valencia, who also works at the AutoZone store in White Plains, said he began working there in May 2026, and became interested in the union after being scheduled to work the Fourth of July holiday and did not receive any sort of holiday pay or bonus for doing so.

“When I got my paycheck and saw that they didn’t pay anything extra when part-time employees leave their families for holidays and sacrifice the time that they have with their families to come to work, you don’t get anything extra, any recognition, and that just blew my mind,” Valencia said. According to Indeed, AutoZone only provides paid holidays for eligible full-time employees.

“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. We’re not getting close to what we’re worth,” Valencia added. “There is no bargaining when you’re alone. 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.”

DuCongé and Valencia both explained that AutoZone management caught wind of the union organizing drive after they had collected enough union authorization cards to file for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board.

They said the following day, the store became filled with regional and corporate managers and human resources executives.