Some Wells Fargo employees vote in favor of unionization; others reject
By Bhanvi Satija, Jaiveer Shekhawat and Nupur Anand
(Reuters) -Wells Fargo employees at its Albuquerque, New Mexico branch voted to join a union on Wednesday, while some of the other bank employees at the bank's branch in Bethel, Alaska withdrew from the unionization effort.
Elections at the Alaska branch were going to be held on Thursday but they have now been withdrawn, the union said.
Details of Alaska branch pulling out their petition was first reported on Wednesday by Reuters.
«We are pleased with this development and will continue to respect the rights of our employees to choose whether or not they want to be represented by a union,» said Amy Bonitatibus, Wells Fargo chief communications officer.
The Committee For Better Bankers that is helping with the bank unionization effort or the branch employees did not immediately provide any rationale for the move.
«Although those of us at the Bethel branch have decided to withdraw our petition and hold on moving forward with a union election at this time, our values have not changed,» Walker Sexton, a personal banker at the Bethel branch, said without elaborating.
«We believe change at Wells Fargo is past due,» Sexton said.
With the unionization effort at the Albuquerque branch, Wells Fargo, has become the first major U.S. lender to have a unionized workforce.
The employees at that branch voted 5 to 3 in favor of joining the Communications Workers of America's Wells Fargo Workers United (WFWU), the union said.
The vote stands «as a testament to workers in the financial services industry who know we need a collective voice to improve the industry we are integral to,» said Sabrina Perez, a senior premier banker at Wells Fargo's Albuquerque branch.
The vote makes the San
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