Wells Fargo is much different than the ‘Good Old Days’

There are only a couple of Wells Fargo banks in west-central Illinois, and people of a certain age probably tie Wells Fargo to the old TV western starring Dale Robertson as the intrepid special investigator solving problems with his fists or pistol. Now, instead of an express company protecting its stagecoaches, Wells Fargo wears the black hat of villainy, according to organized labor.

Wells Fargo has branches in Canton and Galesburg, plus Wells Fargo Advisers offices in Peoria and Bloomington, but nationwide, the megabank faces a different challenge: unionized workers.

Banking is one of the least unionized industries in the nation; less than 1% of U.S. financial-activities sector employees are union members. (Globally, more than 3 million bank workers belong to a union.)

That’s potentially changing. Since Well Fargo employees in Albuquerque organized with the Communications Workers of America in 2023, 27 other Wells Fargo branches or divisions in 15 states have unionized.

None have negotiated a contract.

“Under federal law, workers have the right to organize, advocate for better wages and working conditions, and engage in collective bargaining without interference,” wrote U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and other lawmakers in a letter to Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf. “However, rather than remaining neutral as your employees exercise their federally protected rights and organize for better wages and working conditions, your company has initiated an anti-union campaign.”

The CWA’s Wells Fargo Workers United organizing is the first such campaign at a major U.S. bank, with successful union drives at branches and dozens of conduct management investigators who handle customer and employee concerns.

“We are the face of Wells Fargo,” said personal banker and CWA Local 3901 member Brittany Ball. “We deserve to be compensated fairly and to be treated with dignity and respect.”

The 15 U.S. Senators who signed the letter – including Illinois’ Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth – add, “Workers report that company management’s practices prevent them from effectively serving customers and small businesses. They see union representation as a way to address long-standing issues before they escalate into scandals.”

Staff issues are familiar to regular working people: inadequate pay, staff shortages that mean increased workloads, and sales pressures that similar demands a decade ago resulted in a scandal: fraudulently opening millions of accounts customers didn’t request – a situation that caused the Federal Reserve to impose a fine of billions of dollars.

The CWA has filed more than 30 Unfair Labor Practices such as alleging the employer is illegally interrogating and coercing workers.

“There was definitely a perception of surveillance,” says WFWU organizing director Nick Weiner, who’s communicated directly with employees at the Apopka, Fla., branch where such activity happened.

“It was a pretty negative and intimidating interaction to the point of, we thought, encouraging workers to decertify the union.”

Tensions are commonplace throughout the country.

“Workers in Anniston, Ala., or Cartersville, Ga., are feeling the same pain as workers in Wilmington, Del., or San Diego, Calif.,” Weiner says “What’s exciting is that they’re getting all connected with technology so that they can support one another and communicate in real time when something is amiss. Or Stan [Sherrill, Wells Fargo’s head of labor relations] shows up in their branch causing mischief. They can spread the word so people are on alert.”

In one case, the National Labor Relations Board in February issued a complaint against Wells Fargo for unlawfully threatening and retaliating against workers, and asked the bank to recognize and negotiate with the union.

“Wells Fargo Workers United-CWA members have been trying to negotiate a contract with the company since late last year,” said the AFL-CIO this summer. “Wells Fargo has been aggressively working to undermine unionization efforts. In June, company executive Stan Sherrill began interrogating union members, calling union signage ‘propaganda,’ and unlawfully encouraging workers to file for a decertification petition. Wells Fargo workers are standing strong and fighting back.”

Wells Fargo claims it’s bargaining, but Wells Fargo Workers United (WFWU) member Misty Elms says, “This fight isn’t just about our rights on the job – it’s about holding the bank accountable to its workforce, customers and the public it serves.

Elms, a Lake Elsinore, Calif., personal banker, continues, “It’s time for Wells Fargo to respect its workers and bargain in good faith.”

One of the country’s “Big Four” megabanks (along with JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Citibank), Wells Fargo has 25,000 branch workers, plus loan processors, call-center staff and technology workers. With about 4,000 branches, Wells Fargo reported $10.4 billion in profit in the first six months of this year, and Schar, Wells Fargo’s CEO last year received compensation of $30,313,559 – 23% more than he got in 2022, based on corporate proxy filings.

Meanwhile, as if to cement its standing as a questionable corporate “citizen,” Wells Fargo this spring released a memo suggesting ways to privatize the U.S. Postal Service to make the longtime popular public service a profit-oriented company by raising rates 30% to 140%, depleting its unionized work force, and closing Post Offices and selling that real estate.

The Wells Fargo memo concedes that privatization will mean “less job security amid inevitable loss of union protections, loss of pension benefits, higher health-care costs and employee/wage restructuring.”

Also, Wells Fargo has increased its financing of the fossil-fuel industry despite evidence that it contributes to climate change that affects jobs and health as well as the well-being of the planet. Wells Fargo and five other U.S. banks “significantly increased their fossil-fuel financing, including ramping up finance for fossil fuel expansion,” according to “Banking on Climate Chaos,” a report from the Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network and other environmental groups. Corporate-level financing increased by almost $117 billion from 2023 to 2024, the report says. Last year, Wells Fargo spent $39.3 billion in fossil-fuel financing.

Negotiations are slow – by design, WFWU says.

“They want to discourage people from [organizing] by pointing to: ‘Look how long this is taking, the union hasn’t gotten a contract, the union can’t win you anything’,” Sabrina Perez, a personal banker at Wells Fargo’s El Dorado branch in Albuquerque, told Labor Notes. “But their reason for fighting isn’t as strong as ours. We will last one day longer than they will.”

As troubadour Woody Guthrie sang decades ago, “Some will rob you with a six gun. And some with a fountain pen.”