ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Employees at an Albuquerque Wells Fargo branch are working to unionize. 

A group of six workers at the location near Montgomery and Juan Tabo filed a petition to unionize with the National Labor Relations Board Monday morning. A Wells Fargo branch in far western Alaska also filed a union petition Monday. 

In a letter to Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf, the Albuquerque workers say their location is understaffed.

Workers say they’re often forced to cover more than one job during a shift, which raises security concerns, impacts the customer experience, and increases employee burnout. The letter also states workers are underpaid. 

The letter continues to say workers’ efforts to voice their concerns with upper management are often ignored or not properly addressed.

One longtime employee described any changes as band-aid solutions. 

“It’s not really a matter of, you know, us trying to, you know, get more than our fair share. We’re just trying to make sure that we have a voice so that that way, whenever there are issues that we’ve seen in the past that we can kind of address those before they get to a point that is boiling over,” said Sabrina Perez, a 10-year employee with Wells Fargo. 

Perez says decisions made by corporate leaders, including recent cost-cutting measures, are making their jobs harder. She believes there are several other Wells Fargo locations that are prepared to unionize. 

“We have several locations across the United States that are ready to go,” she said. “That momentum is building every day, and we’re seeing a lot of good reaction, a lot of people reaching out. It’s definitely time.” 

The Albuquerque location is attempting to unionize with Communications Workers of America. Wells Fargo has seven days to address the worker’s petition before the NLRB schedules a union election. 

A Wells Fargo corporate leader sent KOB 4 this statement Monday:

“We take pride in being ranked #2 in LinkedIn’s 2023 list of Top Companies to Grow One’s Career, having climbed the rankings steadily since 2018. We have a deep commitment to invest in and support everyone who works at Wells Fargo and, in particular, have significantly improved compensation and benefits for our lower paid employees in recent years. We also actively listen to our employees through multiple feedback channels and their voices have driven many of the enhancements we have made. For the last four years, we made healthcare more affordable for lower paid employees by decreasing the portion they pay of total costs, increased median base salaries by 26% for those making less than $50,000, reduced the required workdays for those in many of our branches, and increased staffing levels in branches where needed to help support our employees and ultimately our customers. We strongly believe everyone’s individual voice should be heard and that direct connection is the best way to continue to make progress in ensuring that our workplace helps our employees thrive.”