AutoZone fired Nathan De Kong following the unionization vote at the White Plains store.
Posted by Behind the Bastards, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 88%
Behind the BastardsOct 3, 2026
Multiple sources report that AutoZone fired Nathan DuCongé, the lead organizer, the day after or immediately following the September 25, 2026 union vote at its White Plains store. The claim's spelling "De Kong" is a variant of the same person's name (DuCongé, also rendered Ducong/Du Kong in the post), so the referent matches.
What was said
… It was a show of force to intimidate us, to make sure we don't even think about talking about the union. That's what you told The Chief, a really great labor publication that you should also read, who did a great story on the whole situation. The workers voted to unionize anyway, a historic win that AutoZone celebrated by promptly firing Ducong, who was the primary leader of the union drive. The company insisted that he was a supervisor and therefore ineligible for the union, which Ducong disputes. He says that he did not have firing, hiring, or disciplining power, but did try to remedy before the vote by refiling the union petition. …
Behind the Bastards · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Jacobin reports that the company fired Nathan DuCongé the day after the workers won their union election, and then fired David Valencia the following morning.[2]
Supports. A UAW Region 9A newsletter states that immediately after the union vote, AutoZone management fired Nathan DuCongé, one of the worker organizers.[3]
Supports. The Chief reports that DuCongé was fired days after the vote, with a manager citing his union activity, and a voiceofhuman report says the drive's leader was fired one day after the vote in a recorded conversation.[4][5]
Supports. A fiscal.ai news listing dated October 14, 2026 states that the company terminated the employment of lead organizers following the successful unionization vote at the White Plains store.[6]
Context. The claim's wording differs slightly from the post, which describes the firing as a celebration of the win; the core assertion (firing following the vote) is what the sources address. The NLRB case record is open and nothing has been adjudicated, so the firing's legality is not established, but the claim concerns the firing itself.[1][5]
Sources
6 sources: 1 primary, 1 tier 2, 4 not rated
- 1AUTOZONEnlrb.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 2AutoZone Workers Won a Union. Then the Company Fired Them.jacobin.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 3UAW Region 9A Weekly Newsletter: October 2region9a.uaw.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4News - The Chiefthechiefleader.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5White Plains Workers Win: AutoZone's First Union Votethevoiceofhuman.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 6AutoZone, Inc. (AZO) - Newsfiscal.ai · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- AutoZone management fired a supervisor at the White Plains store for failing to stop the union.Mixed
- AutoZone spent over 200,000 dollars to oppose the unionization effort at the White Plains store.True
- The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found AutoZone guilty of unlawful conduct during a union drive at a distribution center in the early nineties.True
- Workers at the Golden Cross Manufacturing plant in the Bronx are unionized with IBEW Local Union 1430.True
- The National Labor Relations Board ordered Alaska Tanker Company and Overseas Shipholding Group to recognize the union and start bargaining.True