(Reuters) - Amazon workers in North Carolina voted on Saturday against joining a union, a big win for the retail giant which has vigorously opposed organized labor at its facilities across the United States.

The vote - 2,447 against and 829 for - is a setback for union officials who have long coveted Amazon because of how many industries it touches including warehousing, trucking, manufacturing and even data processing. A simple majority of voters among the 4,300 workers at the warehouse in Garner, North Carolina, near Raleigh, was necessary to form the union.

The union released the results on Saturday.

Amazon has argued that its workers are best served by having a direct relationship with the company rather than through organized labor, while union officials have said improvements in working conditions and wages are only possible through collective bargaining.