Union decertification efforts at Wells Fargo gain steam

Key insight: Wells Fargo says employees who want to decertify the union are acting independently, but labor organizers accuse the bank of engaging in union-busting.

What's at stake: Labor organizers have been targeting San Francisco-based Wells Fargo in the most high-profile example of their effort to change an industry that has historically not been unionized.

Supporting data: Some 28 of the more than 4,000 Wells Fargo branches nationwide have voted to unionize.

After a two-year run of success, union organizers at Wells Fargo are now hitting some setbacks, as two branches where workers previously voted to organize are decertifying union representation.

Employees at a Wells Fargo branch in Apex, N.C., voted 5-2 earlier this month in favor of decertification. At a branch in Spring Hill, Fla., where another decertification push launched recently, union organizers are no longer fighting the effort.

Meanwhile in Casper, Wyo., a decertification push is underway at a third Wells branch, though union officials say that effort is currently on hold pending the resolution of allegations that the bank engaged in unfair labor practices.

Historically, banking has been one of the least unionized industries. The campaign to organize Wells Fargo workers is the most high-profile effort to undo that long-term trend, though union organizers have also had recent success at Beneficial State Bank in California.

The decertification efforts at Wells Fargo show that building unions at banks continues to be very difficult. They also underscore the tensions between the San Francisco-based bank's management and union organizers. The two sides have yet to sign a contract after more than a year of talks.

Some of the Wells employees who are leading the charge for decertification are being represented by lawyers with the National Right to Work Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides free legal assistance to workers in such cases.

The National Right to Work Foundation did not make the Wells employees that its lawyers represent available for an interview. But Patrick Semmens, the foundation's vice president, told American Banker that the decertification efforts are likely an outgrowth of bank employees growing dissatisfied as a result of union organizers failing to deliver on promises. He pointed specifically to the lack of a signed union contract.

"It seems like employees are starting to reevaluate the situation now," said Semmens, who noted that his organization represents only employees, not employers.

Wells Fargo said that it trains its managers to follow labor laws — including requirements that they refrain from encouraging employees to seek to decertify union representation — and that the decertification process is independently initiated by employees inside a bargaining unit.

But Sabrina Perez, the chair of the union's bargaining committee, told American Banker that Wells has been "fairly aggressive in their union-busting."

"They've been working with union-busting consultants for an extended period of time. It's no surprise to me that the National Right to Work Foundation felt that they had the standing to be commenting. I suspect that they probably have been working with the company to some degree," Perez said.

Perez also argued that Wells has been not making meaningful efforts to reach a fair agreement at the bargaining table.

"I think they're trying to delay more than anything, because then they use it as a talking point," she said. "We're still pursuing that, but the company is certainly not making it easy, and they don't seem interested in actually reaching an agreement."

Since late 2023, employees in at least 28 Wells Fargo branches across the U.S. have voted to unionize, though one of those branches was subsequently closed. Staffers in at least three branches have voted against unionization, but union organizers subsequently filed an unfair labor practices charge in connection with one of those elections.

Nationwide, Wells Fargo operates more than 4,000 branches.

In response to an inquiry about the decertification efforts, Wells said in a written statement that it's committed to maintaining a culture where all employees continue to feel supported, valued and heard.

"We're pleased our employees are able to exercise their voice regarding union representation," the bank said.

The unionization fight in Wyoming

The union decertification push in Casper, Wyo., coincides with Wells Fargo agreeing to a settlement over allegations that it illegally terminated an employee for engaging in union organizing at the same Casper branch.

That employee, Andy King, helped organize the Casper branch in September 2024. He was terminated three months later. Since then, he's found work as a server but has also continued to work on the unionization push at Wells Fargo.

King told American Banker last week that he had just learned earlier the same day about the decertification effort in the Casper branch.

"I was not thrilled," he said. "It kind of blindsided me and our organizer, but we are working on that."

In a follow-up interview on Monday, King said that only two of the five employees in the Casper branch at the time the unionization vote was held are still working there. Four new employees have started since the September 2024 vote, he said.

A week before employees in Casper filed the petition for a union vote, King's manager offered to write him a letter of recommendation that would allow him to work somewhere else, he recalled.

He also said that Wells Fargo hung anti-union posters in a break room for employees, and pulled workers into long meetings where executives explained why they shouldn't vote in favor of a union.

About one month after the successful union vote at the Casper branch, King received a corrective action that he disagreed with. In December, when he was terminated, he was told that he violated sales and service quality guidelines, he recalled. He was eventually told that the issue involved a loan application, but was not given more specific information, he said.

"And I asked if I could have it in writing, and they said no," King said.

In a complaint filed with the National Labor Relation Board, union officials alleged that King was fired because he supported and assisted the union, and in an effort to discourage other employees from doing the same.

Under the terms of a settlement that Wells Fargo agreed to earlier this month, the bank agreed to hang a notice in the Casper branch that states: "We will not discharge you because you engaged in protected concerted and union activities," and "We will not make veiled threats of termination to you by inviting you to quit in response to your protected concerted activities."

A union spokesperson said that he is not allowed to share the "financial aspects" of the settlement due to a confidentiality agreement with Wells Fargo. The settlement agreement states that Wells Fargo did not admit that it violated the National Labor Relations Act.

A Wells Fargo spokesperson declined to comment on the settlement.