A senior human resources executive at Wells Fargo has been visiting unionized branches to “interrogate” workers and coercing them to decertify their union, Wells Fargo employees allege.
Stan Sherrill, Wells Fargo’s head of labor relations, has told workers that Wells Fargo Workers United signage is propaganda, some employees allege.
“There was definitely a perception of surveillance,” said Nick Weiner, organizations director for Wells Fargo Workers United, who has communicated directly with employees at the Apopka, Florida, branch where this allegedly happened.
“He’d come into the break room, looking at the union flyers that had been put up in the break room, making derogatory comments about the union flyers and insinuating that the union had done nothing for the branch,” Weiner said. “It was a pretty negative and intimidating interaction to the point of, we thought, encouraging workers to decertify the union.”
Visiting unionized branches is part of Sherrill’s job, according to a Wells Fargo spokesperson. But according to Weiner, he “cross[ed] the line” with his commentary.
”Managers aren’t supposed to do that, and certainly not the director of labor relations at a fourth-largest bank in the country,” Weiner said.
Employees rallied against the alleged union-busting in Charlotte on Tuesday morning, alongside representatives of the AFL-CIO and Communications Workers of America unions. The North Carolina city is home to one of Wells’ largest employee bases.
The CWA filed an unfair labor practice report in June with the National Labor Relations Board regarding the alleged interrogation and coercion. The bank spokesperson disputed the characterizations that either Sherrill or the bank’s labor relations team engage in union-busting or disseminating misinformation.
Efforts to unionize at Wells Fargo first bubbled up in 2021, with assistance from the Committee for Better Banks. A Wells Fargo branch in Albuquerque, New Mexico, voted to unionize in December 2023. Since then, 27 other Wells locations in 15 states have also voted to unionize.
However, none have set a contract yet. Inaugural negotiations started at the branch in Albuquerque in November, and this week union representatives and bank representatives reconvene for the eighth time. A Wells Fargo spokesperson said the bank is actively negotiating with six locations and is waiting to hear back from representatives of the other 22 locations to schedule initial bargaining meetings.
“Wells Fargo respects the rights of our employees and other interested parties to express their views,” a Wells Fargo spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “While opinions may differ, we remain focused on our ongoing constructive and good faith bargaining sessions with the union. We’re committed to understanding and addressing the concerns of our employees.”
Weiner, however, asserts that Wells Fargo employees nationwide are “all facing the same stresses of staff cuts, renewed sales pressure, pay falling behind and benefits deteriorating,” which has pushed them to unionize.
“Workers in Anniston, Alabama, or Cartersville, Georgia, are feeling the same pain as workers in Wilmington, Delaware, or San Diego, California,” Weiner said. “What’s exciting is that they’re getting all connected with technology so that they can support one another and communicate in real time when something is amiss. Or Stan shows up in their branch causing mischief. They can spread the word so people are on alert.”
Corinne Jefferson, a recently fired Wells Fargo employee based in Daytona Beach, Florida, told Banking Dive that when Sherrill showed up at her branch – which happened shortly after the branch became the second-ever to unionize – he originally said he “has good relationships with union members, that he goes out and has drinks with them and bargains at the bar over drinks.”
In time, Jefferson alleged, Sherrill began questioning employees one by one on unionizing desires, and “reiterating, if you unionize, there’s no longer going to be leniency with your policy and procedure.”
Jefferson also alleged that Sherrill “created a false narrative that I was bullying my coworkers into being in the union.”
Sherrill joined the San Francisco-based bank in September 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Jefferson was fired in June after 14 years as a Wells Fargo banker. Prior to the union election, she said she had never so much as been written up, but that numerous write-ups followed her branch’s unionization. When she was fired, she said she wasn’t given a reason, and still has not been given a reason.
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