Wells Fargo Settles Second Complaint Over Union Intimidation

Wells Fargo & Co. reached a settlement with workers at an Oregon call center who claimed managers improperly removed pro-union materials from common areas and stopped workers from posting those materials in their workspaces.

The settlement, announced to workers Friday, marks the second time the San Francisco-based bank, the fourth-largest in the US, has reached a deal after workers filed unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board. It comes as workers at bank branches in New Mexico and Alaska have petitioned for union elections, in the first labor drive at a giant US bank.

Under the settlement, Wells Fargo agreed to post a notice outlining workers’ organizing rights in its Hillsboro, Ore., call center. Workers will also be able to pass out union materials in non-work areas at the call center. The Committee for Better Banks, an advocacy group that is helping to guide the Wells Fargo union campaign, negotiated the settlement.

In addition, Wells Fargo agreed to email the notice outlining organizing rights to workers at the Oregon call center, a step that wasn’t required under a May settlement at a Salt Lake City call center.

“It’s just very exciting because it shows we’ve really stuck to our guns,” said Cole Weber, a worker at the Hillsboro call center who filed one of the unfair labor practice claims earlier in 2023. Weber alleged managers prohibited him from putting pro-union flyers outside his cubicle.

“We are pleased to have resolved this matter and we continue our commitment to our employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act,” a Wells Fargo spokesperson said in a statement.

Union Drive

Wells Fargo is facing a broader drive for union elections as workers advocate for better pay and working conditions.

Workers at branches in Albuquerque, N.M., and Bethel, Alaska, filed petitions with the NLRB for elections to join the Communications Workers of America’s Wells Fargo Workers United union. Elections haven’t yet been scheduled but are expected in the coming weeks. Union organizers hope other branches will file for union elections before Christmas.

Wells Fargo hired a director of labor relations earlier this year as it gears up for the campaign.

Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf told the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Banking Committee at hearings last year that he believes the bank “should have a direct relationship with our employees.”

The Washington-Baltimore News Guild, which is affiliated with the CWA, represents employees of Bloomberg Law.

‘It Can Work’

Wells Fargo employees have argued the bank’s long history of consumer protection violations shows the need for a union. With union banking, workers say they could’ve pushed back against pressure to increase sales that resulted in the fake account scandal that came to light in 2016.

Read More: Ex-Wells Fargo Executive Avoids Prison Over Accounts Scandal

Wells Fargo is also engaged in a campaign to streamline its operations by shutting down non-core units. The bank recently laid off around 300 workers at the Hillsboro call center and is in the process of shutting down another Oregon call center, according to Debbie Warren, another Hillsboro call center worker who filed an unfair labor practice claim against the bank.

Workers from the nearby call center will now work out of the Hillsboro center, she said.

The consolidation has Wells Fargo workers in Oregon concerned about their futures, and has made organizing more difficult, Warren said.

“They’re afraid of losing what they have—and they can’t afford to lose what little they have,” she said.

Warren said she’s hopeful the unfair labor practice settlement at her call center, and the coming union elections in New Mexico and Alaska, will give the labor effort in Oregon renewed energy.

“A lot of people have been kind of hesitant thinking it’s too big of a company to have a union in it. Now they’re really starting to realize that it can happen, it can work,” she said.

Weber added that he doesn’t anticipate a move for a union election in the immediate future, noting that organizing a call center where half the employees are working from home at any time is in some ways more complex than organizing a small branch.