Wells Fargo workers at branch location in Apopka voted unanimously to unionize on Tuesday, joining a growing number of unionized branch locations nationwide.
Workers at the Apopka branch, located northwest of Orlando at 2222 E. Semoran Blvd., voted 6-0 to join Wells Fargo Workers United, a labor union affiliated with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which represents hundreds of thousands of workers nationwide in telecommunications, customer service, media and other industries.
The Wells Fargo organizing campaign, driven by a desire for better working conditions, pay and staffing, has been years in the making, according to organizers, but only recently notched its first victories through formal union elections.
A Wells Fargo branch in New Mexico voted to become the first unionized branch in December, followed closely by a branch in Daytona Beach in January. The union has since declared victory at branches in Delaware and Virginia, where employees similarly voted to unionize.
Workers at the Apopka branch first filed their petition with the National Labor Relations Board to unionize last month, while another branch in Belleview, Florida — located near The Villages — petitioned for a union election on March 8, along with another branch the same day in Cedar Hill, Texas.
Wells Fargo is the only major U.S. bank with unionized branch locations, even if they so far make up just a small percentage of the bank's overall workforce. The banking industry has historically been hostile to organizing activity, according to the CWA. Less than 2% of the industry’s workforce nationwide can say they’re union.
Wells Fargo, for its part, wants to keep it that way. An internal Wells Fargo PowerPoint presentation obtained by Bloomberg last year, shared among the bank’s executives, expressed concerns that a union resurgence in certain U.S. sectors could reach them next.
The company, which has faced numerous controversies in recent years (from allegedly discriminatory mortgage practices to opening up millions of fake accounts), reportedly planned to earmark millions of dollars to address the workforce’s “pain points” (i.e., employee complaints) to head off unionization attempts.
In statements to Orlando Weekly, the bank has openly acknowledged their desire to remain nonunion. “We respect our employees’ rights to vote for union representation,” a Wells Fargo spokesperson for the region said. “At the same time, we continue to believe our employees are best served by working directly with the Company and its leadership.”
A similar sentiment has been shared by industry-leading companies like Starbucks, Amazon and Trader Joe’s that are fighting their employees' unionization efforts. All three also recently adopted the spirit of right-wing ideologues in arguments to declare the National Labor Relations Board, the 90-year-old regulating agency that runs union elections, “unconstitutional.”
Part of the desire for union representation at Wells Fargo stems from grievances with insufficient pay, staffing cuts, and what the union describes as a “toxic culture” in the workplace.
As of 2022, the mean annual income of a bank teller in Florida was just $37,720. And lower staffing levels, workers say, leaves them incapable of properly attending to client concerns in a timely manner, leading to long wait times.
“We continually face inadequate staffing that not only strains our ability to perform our duties effectively but undermines the quality of service we can offer to our customers,” Noell Calas, an associate personal banker at the Apopka branch, told Orlando Weekly in a statement last month.
New organizing in a state like Florida — home to several anti-union policies that make organizing a challenge — is something of a big deal, particularly in the private sector. Less than 4% of Florida’s private sector is unionized, according to data pulled by UnionStats, compared to 26% of the public sector (which is facing its own challenges).
Wells Fargo Workers United believes more victories are to come, as their public organizing campaign continues to capture interest and spreads. The real challenge, after an election victory, is securing an initial contract — a process that, with some of the most stubborn bosses, can take years if it happens at all.
There could be more union Wells Fargo branches in Florida yet. Employees at a branch in Bradenton filed a petition to unionize with the CWA on Monday, while a union election for the branch in Belleview, affecting 10 employees, will take place early next month on April 2.
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