Workers at Wells Fargo in Des Moines push for organizing vote

As labor organizers push to schedule union votes at Wells Fargo facilities across the nation, Wells Fargo workers in Des Moines are hoping to soon join them.

Mac Siruta and fellow workers were passing out flyers at the door as employees arrived for work Wednesday morning at the bank's Jordan Creek campus in West Des Moines. The unionization effort Siruta is leading targets the company's credit card non fraud department, which has about 250 workers.

To petition the National Labor Relations Board to hold a vote, Siruta and the other union advocates must persuade at least 30% of the workers to sign cards requesting an election. It then takes a vote of 50% plus one to become a recognized bargaining unit.

Siruta hopes the election can be held in early 2024, but seeks to reach the vote threshold percentage in the card sign-up before moving forward. He said he will soon start trying to get the needed signatures.

“We love Wells Fargo and we want to make it better. We want a seat at the table and we are here to work with them (Wells Fargo),” said Joe Hertz, one of the people handing fliers to employees coming to work.

The effort by local Wells Fargo workers in Des Moines mirrors a similar effort that took place Wednesday at locations around the country including Charlotte, North Carolina; St. Louis; Phoenix; and Portland, Oregon.

Calling it a “flyering action,” The Committee for Better Banks, the group that is leading the union drive around the country, said the effort was aimed at educating colleagues about the benefits of a union while also calling on Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf to maintain a neutral stance on the union drive.

Wells Fargo branch workers in Daytona Beach, Florida, New Mexico and Alaska already have filed with the NLRB for yet-to-be scheduled union elections.

Siruta said overcoming the fear employees may have about forming a union is a hurdle in getting the needed support, but the union votes by Wells Fargo workers in other parts of the country will help establish confidence in Des Moines.

“When people see its happening elsewhere, they will feel more comfortable about voting for it here,” said Siruta.

Wells Fargo settles retaliation cases with NLRB

Asked to respond, Wells Fargo said in a prepared statement, “We strongly believe everyone's individual voice should be heard and that working directly together is the best way to continue to make progress in supporting our employees. While there is always more to be done, we’re proud of the work we have accomplished, most recently being ranked #2 on LinkedIn’s 2023 list of Top Companies to Grow One’s Career."

In a previous statement, it said, "We respect employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act, and our policies do not prohibit employees from discussing wages, benefits and terms of employment, or otherwise engaging in collective activity."

However, the bank recently settled two cases with the NRLB regarding retaliation against union organizing efforts in Utah and Nevada, where, among other things, the company was accused of improperly removing pro-union materials from common areas and prohibiting employees from posting the materials in their workspaces.

In addition to information on how union organization could help improve working conditions and wages at Wells Fargo, the leaflets distributed Wednesday carried warnings that it is unlawful for Wells Fargo to try to influence or intimidate employees regarding union organization and membership.

The recent NLRB cases against Wells Fargo have attracted the attention of U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee chair Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat who in October penned a letter on the subject to Michael Barr, a Federal Reserve vice chair, and Michael Hsu, acting U.S. comptroller of the currency.

“Over the past year, employees located at several different Wells Fargo offices have filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) alleging … violations to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)," Brown wrote, and noted the bank's record of unethical business practices, for which it has paid billions of dollars in fines. "Potential violations of federal labor law raise additional concerns about Wells Fargo’s continued inability to fix its longstanding problems and do right by its customers, investors, and workers.”

In a news release Wednesday, the Committee for Better Banks said momentum for unionization within the company has been building, with over 1,000 workers signing the Wells Fargo Workers Union support pledge in the last two weeks.

“We stand in solidarity with our fellow workers in New Mexico and Alaska who bravely filed for union elections last month, and we look forward to other branch and call center workers, as well as workers across Wells Fargo’s various departments and geographies, joining us in taking this critical step to make the bank a better place for workers, customers, and stakeholders," Corinne Jefferson, a personal banker at Wells Fargo’s Daytona Beach-based branch, said in the release. "Wells Fargo, we are not backing down, and in fact, we’re just getting started.”

Wells Fargo CEO readies to pay up to $1 billion in severance costs, telegraphing layoffs

Efforts to unionize within the Wells Fargo ranks comes as Wells Fargo CEO Scharf appears poised to make significant staffing cuts despite what he called “solid” results in the company’s third quarter, reporting net income of $5.8 billion on revenue of $20.9 billion.

Scharf announced Tuesday that Wells Fargo is planning to pay out severance costs between $750 million and $1 billion during its fiscal fourth quarter as the company “adjusts it headcount amid low turnover rates,” according an article on the InvestorPlace website.

Wells Fargo in Des Moines already has seen significant job losses. Since 2019, it has reported 876 layoffs under Iowa’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act in Polk County, including 260 that either came this year or are scheduled to take effect in January. The bank has fallen behind Hy-Vee as the Des Moines metro's largest employer.

It is precisely this kind of downsizing that Siruta said to start his unionization efforts in Des Moines.

“We have really good people here and I get tired of seeing them get hired by others,” he said.

Siruta and others handing out leaflets also said return-to-office mandates are on the minds of employees, many of whom worked remotely even before the pandemic. He said wages have not increased enough to offset increased costs associated with commuting to work.

Other issues of concern among the workers include staffing levels and more transparency on career paths for employees, Siruta said.

Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at kbaskins@registermedia.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines Wells Fargo employees join national effort to unionize