Wells Fargo Faces Another Big Problem

The bank could become the first of the largest U.S. banks to deal with a game-changing issue.

Wells Fargo  (WFC) - Get Free Report has had its fair share of blemishes on a less-than-stellar record over the past several years. 

Take, for example, its account fraud scandal, which resulted in an order by the Federal Reserve to freeze all growth to $2 billion or less while it remediated the situation. 

In 2022, the bank was accused of yet more fraud involving the Zelle payment app. That same year, it was accused of rejecting more prospective black homeowner mortgage applications than it approved.

Just this past December, the bank was accused of (and ordered to pay $3.7 billion) loan mismanagement.

Suffice it to say that Wells Fargo has made more than a few folks unhappy. 

It may make sense, then, that it may be the first banking titan to become unionized.

Wells Fargo Employees Want to Unionize

At least 700 Wells Fargo employees are pushing to unionize the bank – and they have help from organized labor.

This week, an insider group called Wells Fargo Workers United lobbied the bank’s shareholders to give a green light to the Freedom of Association policy that clears the way for company employees to organize a union.

Bank executives aren’t taking the labor union push well.

According to Bloomberg, bank leaders are “privately expressing increased concern that a years-long effort to unionize the bank’s employees could soon start notching victories — and have made plans to spend millions addressing the “pain points” that can fuel organizing efforts.”

One component of that plan is a campaign to spend “hundreds of millions of dollars” on “staffing improvements” that might mitigate internal labor union efforts. The bank is also reportedly involved in efforts to disrupt unionizing efforts by identifying company insiders inked to the WFWU and taking down union-backed flyers inside Wells Fargo workplaces.

That’s not stopping the Wells Fargo union backers, which are supported by the Committee for Better Banks and the AFL-CIO. The new shareholder proposal would protect banking employees involved in union organizing efforts. “According to WFWU, two of the nation’s largest proxy advisers, Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, have recommended shareholders vote in favor of the Freedom of Association proposal,” BankingDive reported on April 19.

Wells Fargo Resists Union Efforts -- So Far

The bank is resisting unionizing efforts but staffers are calling executives out.

Wells Fargo customer service representative Meghan Merez and a WFWU member told Banking Dive her union flyers were regularly removed under orders from Wells Fargo management.

“Merez filed an unfair labor practice case with the National Labor Relations Board after she said she was retaliated against for requesting a pay increase,” Banking Dive reported. “Before requesting the increase, she had flexible hours; and after she was moved to a different position and given a rigid 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. workday, Merez said.”

Merez also had a bonus postponed, as did members of her team members. The bonuses were paid out after Merez issued complaints to Wells Fargo's human resources.

Wells Fargo may find itself fighting more company staffers on the union issue – and sooner than bank executives may think.

According to an internal PowerPoint presentation viewed by Bloomberg News, the bank is experiencing a “resurgence” of union activity.

“Public approval of unions has increased,” the document stated. “And a new generation of employees with activist experience successfully unionized parts of major companies with no prior history of unionization.”