{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://stansbury.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-stansbury-fights-workers-rights", "Rep. Stansbury Fights for Workers\u2019 Rights", "2024-09-12", "2024", "2024-09", "Democrat", "House", "NM", "Melanie A. Stansbury", "S001218", "stansbury.house.gov", "stansbury", "https://stansbury.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "ALBUQUERQUE\u2014Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury (NM-01) authored a letter urging the Federal Reserve to protect workers in Wells Fargo branches and demand banking institutions follow the laws. It was sent to Michael S. Barr, Vice Chair for Supervision on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Michael J. Hsu, Acting Comptroller for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.\n\n24 Members of Congress signed the letter.\n\n\u201cIn the last five years, there have been numerous complaints filed citing the failure to respect workers protected right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The lack of regard for this right not only puts the thousands of frontline workers at risk but also the soundness of Wells Fargo,\u201d the lawmakers wrote. \u201cWells Fargo has demonstrated by their behavior that the safety and care of their workers is not a priority in the bank's functions.\u201d\n\nOn December 20, 2023, workers at Wells Fargo's Eldorado branch in Albuquerque, New Mexico, voted to become the first branch in the bank's entire history to form a union.\n\nSince then, a majority of workers in at least 18 additional Wells Fargo branches in 11 different states have voted to form unions.\n\nThere have been 16 Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges filed against Wells Fargo with the NLRB alleging relentless unlawful conduct, including arbitrary discipline, coercion, and unilateral changes in the terms and conditions of employment.\n\n\u201cWe know managers unlawfully enforced coercive and threatening policies and rules, including tearing down union flyers and implying that workers would be reprimanded for posting them,\u201d the lawmakers continued. \u201cWe urge the Federal Reserve to continue investigating this matter to ensure that additional steps are taken to protect the voices of thousands of workers and guarantee that their treatment is conducive to a fair and lawful environment.\u201d\n\nFind the full text of the letter here and below:\n\nDear Vice Chair Barr and Acting Comptroller Hsu:\n\nWe are writing to express our growing concern regarding the treatment of Wells Fargo bank workers nationwide. In the last five years, there have been numerous complaints filed citing the failure to respect workers protected right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The lack of regard for this right not only puts the thousands of frontline workers at risk but also the soundness of Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo has demonstrated by their behavior that the safety and care of their workers is not a priority in the bank's functions. Accordingly, we ask for extended consideration of the treatment of workers from Wells Fargo and a written response addressing the efforts of guidance given to the corporation to ensure compliance with laws and regulations.\n\nEmpowered workers are vital for strong and resilient financial institutions. No bank exemplifies this need more than Wells Fargo, but in recent history, this core principle has been absent. The lack of proper controls to effectively manage increased productivity pressures has caused an ineffective and pressure-ridden environment for frontline employees. Wells Fargo branches across the nation have raised concerns over the bank\u2019s staffing model, which has been cited as understaffed, counterproductive, and stress-inducing for workers. Several branches have reported misconduct, such as lack of training, verbal threats, and short staffing to the point of operating without key federal-mandated employees such as branch managers. To not only protect themselves, but to ensure that the day-to-day functions of a banking institution that manages of $1 trillion in American finances, workers have gathered to use their federally protected right to freedom of association.\n\nOn December 20, 2023, workers at Wells Fargo's Eldorado branch in Albuquerque, New Mexico, voted to become the first branch in the bank's entire history to form a union. Since then, a majority of workers in at least 18 additional Wells Fargo branches in 11 different states have voted to form unions. Practically every week, workers at more branches petition the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to conduct elections.\n\nUnfortunately, employees have faced continuous pushbacks from Wells Fargo executives in response to these efforts. We know managers unlawfully enforced coercive and threatening policies and rules, including tearing down union flyers and implying that workers would be reprimanded for posting them. There have been 16 Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges filed against Wells Fargo with the NLRB alleging relentless unlawful conduct, including arbitrary discipline, coercion, and unilateral changes in the terms and conditions of employment. In October of last year, Committee Chair Senator Sherrod Brown sent you a letter outlining some of these cases with no response to date.\n\nIn order to ensure adequate actions are being taken to address these concerns, we request a detailed written response to ensure an answer to the inquiries below to guarantee supervision and effective action on Wells Fargo activities as they relate to the following and reporting of violations of Federal Labor Law.\n\nPlease describe the current methods by which the Fed/OCC ensures banks\u2019 compliance with relevant federal labor laws, as well as the extent to which the Fed OCC coordinates with federal labor regulators such as the National Labor Relations Board on these issues?\n\nWhat actions are the Fed/OCC taking to address these instances of certain banks like Wells Fargo violating federal labor laws and thus jeopardizing the unity of operations within the bank?\n\nHow has the Fed/OCC responded to Wells Fargo\u2019s alleged violations of federal labor law to date?\n\nWhat are the methods through which the Fed/OCC are alerted to potential violations of relevant federal labor laws?\n\nWhat steps have/will the Fed/OCC take to ensure Wells Fargo\u2019s compliance with directives from the NLRB to correct for previous violations of Wells Fargo employees\u2019 statutory rights to collectively bargain and organize?\n\nWe urge the Federal Reserve to continue investigating this matter to ensure that additional steps are taken to protect the voices of thousands of workers and guarantee that their treatment is conducive to a fair and lawful environment. We request a timely response to this letter by September 30th, 2024. Thank you for your diligent work to resolve these discrepancies and violations.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://stansbury.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-stansbury-fights-workers-rights"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.4500819854438305, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}