Union with little inroads at banks tries to organize Wells Fargo workers in Charlotte

Forming bargaining units in Charlotte will be a challenge because North Carolina is a right-to-work state without a strong union presence, said Eric Heberlig, a UNC Charlotte political science and public policy professor.

In right-to-work states, workers can choose to join a union and pay a membership fee, but joining a union is not a condition of employment. (The dues for the Wells Fargo union are $1.30 per $100 earned.)

Many think about manufacturing, steel and auto plants for traditional unions, Heberlig said, but that’s changing, especially with a decline in those industries.

“(Unions have) moved into the public sector with government workers and more service employees like hotels, retail and things like that,” Heberlig said. But it’s still rare for unions to represent bank workers, Heberlig said.

The Wells Fargo union has to show how unions can benefit bank workers, he said.

“That’s going to make it a lot harder for current bank workers,” Heberlig said, “because they don’t have those references of people who know the industry and talk to them in ways to show that they understand their workplace.”

But it’s possible Wells Fargo call center workers can get guidance from other unions outside of banking. Heberlig said the job duties may be similar regardless if it’s related to banking or something else.

“You would have someone at another unionized call center who can talk to someone from a Wells Fargo center and say our call center works better because we unionized,” he said.

The sprawling 157-acre Customer Information Center complex off W.T. Harris Boulevard in northeast Charlotte has more than 10,000 workers on the site, the Observer previously reported.

Union activists acknowledge that it’s a major undertaking to raise awareness of their work, especially when compared to the smaller sites where they previously have found some success.

“I’m hoping with this flyer blitz that we will get some great leads in Charlotte,” Ronk said, “and build some good Wells Fargo activists willing to come out into the sunlight.”