Victories in Pomona and Apopka, wage and hour lawsuit moving forward, and more!

Two more victories

Exciting news! Our union movement grows as two more branches vote to join WFWU-CWA. On 3/28, the hardworking and overstretched team at the Pomona branch in Egg Harbor City voted to become the first branch in New Jersey to form a union.  And the prior week, a branch in Apopka voted unanimously to form a union, marking the second victory in Florida! 

"We are proud that with our vote, we became the 6th Wells Fargo branch to form a union. We deserve a voice at work so we can improve staffing levels, make our compensation better reflect our value, and ensure we receive fair treatment. We are confident that we made the right choice for ourselves, our families and our communities; and we encourage more branches to join us," said Ediliz Garcia-Lizardo, a Teller at the Apopka, Florida Branch located at 2222 E Semoran Boulevard.

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“We are so excited to join our coworkers at branches across the country who have voted ‘yes’ to gaining a real voice at Wells Fargo so we can work together to improve staffing, pay, retirement benefits and paid time off,” added Jessica Dove, Branch Operation Coordinator at Wells Fargo’s Pomona branch in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey. 

These victories are just another testament of the power of our solidarity. The teams at both branches successfully overcame the anti-union misinformation propaganda spread by Wells Fargo management by sticking together and having each other’s back, staying in close communication to quickly answer any questions or jitters that came up, building trust with one another, and participating in a couple of union meetings that train you how to win your union! Sign up for an upcoming union meeting to help you get started organizing your branch (or non-branch department). [HERE}  

WFWU-CWA members take action against wage theft 

Outten & Golden, a leading employment law firm that advocates for employee rights in workplace disputes, has filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo for misclassifying Senior Premier Bankers in order to deny them overtime pay. This issue could affect hundreds of current and former employees who could be entitled to backpay. 

Sabrina Perez, a Senior Premier Banker at the Eldorado branch in Albuquerque which was the the first branch to vote to form a union with WFWU-CWA, is one of the plaintiffs for the lawsuit.

“I believe it’s incredibly unfair that Senior Premier Bankers are excluded from overtime despite the similar responsibilities shared with other roles,” Perez said. I feel like Wells Fargo is taking advantage of us by not paying overtime for that work, and it feels draining. I believe all Wells Fargo workers deserve to be paid fairly.”

Wage theft through job misclassification is unfortunately common in the United States and occurs when employers incorrectly classify employees as exempt from certain wage and hour laws, like overtime pay. This misclassification often leads to employees being denied the wages they are entitled to under the law. 

The Complaint also alleges that the lack of overtime is made worse by Wells Fargo’s systematic understaffing, which forces Senior Premier Bankers to consistently work more than 40 hours per week as they cover the responsibilities of non-exempt positions, like Tellers and Personal Bankers.

We know understaffing is a widespread source of stress and anxiety for branch and non-branch employees across many divisions and departments at Wells Fargo. If you are a Senior Premier Banker and would like to learn more about this lawsuit; or if you are in another role and feel like you or your coworkers are unlawfully being denied overtime pay; please contact us at [email protected]. 

Read the Lawsuit Complaint

Next WFWU-CWA Introduction to Organizing Meeting: April 2nd

Our next Introduction to Union Organizing Meeting will be April 2.  These introductory union meetings provide a primer on your labor rights, what employers are not allowed to do, what you can accomplish by forming a union and basic questions about how unions function. If you want to start organizing your branch or department, these are a great place to start. Past participants have found these meetings “super helpful,” so please continue to share and help get the word out.

View the Meeting Calendar

Wells Fargo’s 2024 Proxy Statement includes NEW Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining Framework

At last year’s annual shareholder meeting, 34% of Wells Fargo shareholders voted for a proposal brought forth by the AFL-CIO that called on Wells Fargo to recognize workers’ rights to engage in collective bargaining and to associate freely without fear of retaliation. This year, the AFL-CIO Equity Index Funds along with two co-filers have reintroduced this proposal which will be introduced by a member of Wells Fargo Workers United-CWA at the annual shareholder meeting on April 30th.

In response to our success at building our union, combined with exposing management’s anti-union behavior and holding them to account through filing Unfair Labor Practice charges when management violates our rights, Wells Fargo executives were compelled to develop new language around respecting our labor rights and our right to collectively bargain. While this represents progress that Wells Fargo had to publicly state that they respect our right to freedom of association and that they will bargain with us in good faith, it is not nearly enough because we know that internally, executives are sending a different message. That is why we will be hosting a WFWU-CWA webinar the week before Wells Fargo’s shareholder meeting to expose the truth about management’s anti-union behavior for shareholders. Stay tuned for upcoming announcements about our webinar to expose the truth about Wells Fargo’s ongoing anti-union campaign.

Read the Proxy Statement

ICYMI:

• Bloomberg, “Unions Won Sky-High Pay Hikes in 2023 Negotiations”
• Axios, “There's a big wealth gap between union and nonunion workers”
• Outten & Golden, “Wells Fargo Accused Of Unlawfully Withholding Overtime From Hundreds Of Current & Former Employees”
• Governance Intelligence, “AFL-CIO seeks assessment of Wells Fargo’s respect for labor rights”

Question of the Week: What will organizing mean for our job security?

Forming a union at your workplace can greatly improve job security and reduce stress in a variety of ways. First, we will no longer be “at will” employees because we will be empowered to negotiate a “just cause” standard for discipline or termination by establishing a “grievance procedure” in our union contract, also known as a Collective Bargaining Agreement (or CBA), to settle disputes or disagreements with management about discipline or unfair treatment. Having just cause job protections helps to end favoritism and discrimination by management. 

Many union contracts also protect against outsourcing and subcontracting by clearly defining what type of work cannot be taken away from union workers. It all depends on what issues are important to you and your coworkers. Even before we finalize our contract, we gain Weingarten Rights which means we have the right to meet with a union representative of our choosing before any meeting with a manager or supervisor that could lead to disciplinary action. 

Remember, once you form a union, you have a say and a vote on every decision that could affect your working conditions because you are the union. You will elect someone(s) from your bargaining unit to join the contract negotiating committee; and before any CBA can go into effect, you and your coworkers vote to approve it; so nothing will change until you vote to approve the changes.

Deeper Dive: Check out our downloadable union information and fact sheets from our website here