Wells Fargo Union Effort Stalls as Alaska Branch Cancels Vote

Workers at a Wells Fargo & Co. branch in Alaska withdrew their petition for a vote to join a union just before the election was scheduled to occur, highlighting the bumpy path union organizers face.

The move by the five-person branch in Bethel, Alaska, to avoid a vote on joining the Communications Workers of America’s Wells Fargo Workers United came late Wednesday, the same day workers at a Wells Fargo branch in Albuquerque, N.M., voted to become the first unionized branch of a major US bank.

The vote in Bethel was scheduled to happen Thursday.

“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.

Workers can file a new petition for a vote in six months, according to the union. The Bethel branch has five non-managerial employees who would be included in the bargaining unit.

“We are pleased with this development and look forward to continuing to engage with our employees directly,” a Wells Fargo spokesperson said in a statement.

The Washington-Baltimore News Guild, which is affiliated with the CWA, represents employees of Bloomberg Law.

A Wells Fargo branch in Daytona Beach, Fla. is now slated for a union vote on Jan. 11, sources close to the union drive told Bloomberg Law. A branch in Atwater, Calif., has also petitioned for a vote, but the date isn’t set.