New Mexico Wells Fargo workers vote to unionize

Workers at an Albuquerque, New Mexico, Wells Fargo branch voted Wednesday to recognize a union, making it the bank’s first unionized location.

Workers voted 5-3 to join Wells Fargo Workers United in an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board.

The election was reportedly a long time coming. Rumblings of unionization at the Albuquerque branch began in 2020, when workers felt that CEO Charlie Scharf wasn’t addressing their concerns over understaffing and pay.

The union’s victory could be the first of many, with two more Wells Fargo locations set to vote on unionization this month.

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

While the post-COVID world has been friendly to new unionization efforts, the finance world has been largely absent. Less than 2% of finance workers are represented by a union amid momentum by Starbucks and Amazon unions.

As mobile banking dominates the industry, many workers feel insecure in their positions. That could spur more pro-union fervor among Wells Fargo and other banking staff.