The National Labor Relations Board has accused Wells Fargo of illegally threatening and retaliating against employees and coercing workers to prevent fair unionization votes at a California branch.

Most employees of an Atwater, California, branch who signed cards supporting unionization in December 2023 voted against unionization the following month, a regional director of the NLRB alleged, in a complaint filed Feb. 11 and seen by Bloomberg,

The NLRB claims Wells Fargo coerced workers to vote against unionization. Wells Fargo has denied that allegation. 

The labor board wants the bank to recognize and negotiate with the union despite the vote, based on a 2023 precedent case. The 2023 Cemex ruling strengthened the NLRB's power to compel companies that violate labor laws to recognize unions. 

However, Republicans and business groups oppose the precedent. The acting general counsel of NLRB, William Cowen, or his permanent replacement, could withdraw, amend, or settle the Wells Fargo complaint.

President Donald Trump appointed Cowen acting general counsel this month, days after firing NLRB’s previous chief lawyer Jennifer Abruzzo, a Biden appointee, and Democratic board member Gwynne Wilcox.

The email notifying Wilcox of her termination said she was being fired since she did not “share the objectives” of the present administration. Wilcox’s ouster has left the board with only two members coupled with existing vacancies and does not meet the minimum number of members needed to adjudicate routine cases.

Wilcox is suing Trump, alleging the president surpassed his authority in firing her and requesting that she be allowed to resume her work as an NLRB member.

The NLRB complaint does not signify a complete investigation or a full adjudication of the allegations; rather, the regional office found that the allegations may be sufficient to go to a hearing to consider all evidence and make credibility determinations, a Wells Fargo spokesperson noted. 

Employees at the Atwater branch voted 3-1 to reject unionization in January 2024. The branch manager allegedly told staff she knew about organizing discussions and warned about camera surveillance. She also reportedly told workers that Wells Fargo would apply stricter work conditions and would make union supporters stay longer hours.

A Wells Fargo spokesperson said the bank trains its managers to respect the rights of its employees to freely associate and join or support a union, or to bargain collectively with a representative of their choosing.

“We train our managers to comply with labor law and respect the rights of our employees,” the spokesperson told Banking Dive via email. “In this case, the majority of eligible employees freely voted against a union in a Board supervised secret ballot election and the facts do not support allegations to the contrary.”

Wells Fargo is cooperating with the investigation but believes these allegations are unfounded and plans to defend the company and employees, the spokesperson added. 

An NLRB hearing before a judge is scheduled for October, and Wells Fargo, if ordered to collectively bargain, can appeal to NLRB members in Washington, Bloomberg reported.

Recently, unionized Wells Fargo employees hit a new challenge in organizing. The bank's conduct management intake team won its union vote 21-16 in December, making it the first non-branch unit at Wells Fargo to unionize. 

The team, which handles customer and employee complaints across various locations, has now filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB through Wells Fargo Workers United-CWA. The complaint alleges that the bank illegally refuses to engage in collective bargaining following the certified union vote, American Banker reported. However, the bank contends it’s waiting for the outcome of the NLRB’s review and claims there were procedural flaws in the handling of the vote.

CWA unionized 24 Wells Fargo branches last year, with around 200 employees being organized. 

Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf pushed back on employee unionization efforts last April, saying it’s important to “make clear that we continue to believe that our employees are best served by working directly with Wells Fargo and our leadership team.”