Workers at a Wells Fargo branch become the first at a major U.S. bank to unionize

In voting to unionize, the bankers and tellers at the Wells Fargo
WFC,
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branch joined a broader unionization push that has emerged at companies like Starbucks Corp.
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and Amazon.com Inc.
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as workers seek more say at their jobs following more than three years of pandemic-related disruptions and rising prices.

The workers first filed for unionization with the National Labor Relations Board on Nov. 20. The board, in an email on Thursday, said both sides have five business days to file objections. The union will be certified if none are filed.

“Our victory today is the first of many to come,” Sabrina Perez, a senior premier banker at the branch, said in a statement on the website for the Committee for Better Banks, which was created by Communication Workers of America. “Despite Wells Fargo’s aggressive attempts to dissuade us, we are igniting a fire and showing our colleagues across the industry that not only is change possible, it is within reach.”

Workers at the branch are seeking higher wages and better benefits across the company. They’re also hoping to push back against branch closures and what they said was “rampant understaffing, low pay and mismanagement.”

Wells Fargo at the end of last year had roughly 238,000 employees, with around 81% of them based in the U.S., according to the bank’s annual report.

The statement from the Committee for Better Banks noted that workers at smaller banks have also organized. But experts say that despite a more labor-friendly Biden administration, labor laws still largely favor employers, and the difficult task of hammering out a contract could take time and workers could face delays and stall tactics.

A representative for the group said it did not have any information yet on when contract negotiations might begin and had not yet heard from the bank. Wells Fargo, when reached, said it did not have any information about when talks might start.

“We respect our employees’ rights to vote for union representation,” a Wells Fargo representative said in a statement. “At the same time, we continue to believe our employees are best served by working directly with the company and its leadership.”

More efforts to unionize at the bank could be on the way. The Wall Street Journal noted that two Wells Fargo branches — in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Atwater, Calif. — have also filed for elections. The labor board said those elections have not yet been scheduled.

However, the union withdrew its petition to represent workers at a Wells Fargo branch in Bethel, Alaska. The vote there, which had been set for Thursday, has been canceled. The Wells Fargo representative said the company was “pleased with this development and look[s] forward to continuing to engage with our employees directly.”

The National Labor Relations Board has seven open unfair-labor-practice cases that involve Wells Fargo locations. Those investigations are focused on allegations of retaliation against organizing efforts, “coercive statements and actions” and, in San Antonio, Texas, “unlawful discipline and discharge.”

Last month, an NLRB office facilitated a settlement of three charges against Wells Fargo in Beaverton, Ore., the NLRB said in its email. Wells Fargo, it said, agreed to “post and email a notice to employees” saying it would not “remove union materials from non-work areas” or place other restrictions on the distribution of union literature or clothing with union logos.

In May, the labor board said, Wells Fargo, in a case in Salt Lake City, “agreed not to engage in coercive statements, enforcement of coercive rules, surveillance, or interrogation.”

Shares of Wells Fargo were up 0.3% on Thursday.