Employees at a Wells Fargo branch in Egg Harbor, New Jersey, have voted to retain their union representation, becoming the first branch this year to reject an effort to dissolve a union established during the bank’s recent organizing drive.
According to unofficial vote results counted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), workers cast a narrow 5-4 vote against decertifying the union. The branch had originally unionized in February 2024 as part of an unprecedented organizing campaign within the U.S. banking industry.
The outcome stands in contrast to developments at six other Wells Fargo branches across five states, where employees have successfully voted to remove their unions in 2026. It also marks a rare victory for organized labor in a sector where union representation remains exceptionally uncommon, with less than 1% of U.S. banking employees belonging to unions.
Between 2023 and 2024, employees at 28 Wells Fargo branches voted to join the Communications Workers of America (CWA), drawing national attention to what many viewed as a potential turning point for labor organizing in retail banking.
That momentum has slowed considerably. Only four union elections have taken place at Wells Fargo branches this year. In the only new organizing vote of 2026, workers at a Connecticut branch declined union representation, while multiple existing unions have since been dismantled through employee-led decertification efforts.
Responding to the New Jersey vote, Wells Fargo said it respects its employees’ right to determine whether they wish to be represented by a union.
The bank added that it remains prepared to begin negotiating a collective bargaining agreement for the Egg Harbor branch whenever the union is ready to move forward.
The campaign to remove the union at the branch received support from the National Right to Work Foundation, an organization that assists employees seeking to decertify unions or pursue labor-related legal challenges. The group has also been involved in several other successful decertification efforts at Wells Fargo locations.
The Communications Workers of America has long argued that its organizing efforts stem from employee concerns over staffing shortages, wage growth, and workplace sales expectations. Those issues gained prominence following Wells Fargo’s high-profile unauthorized accounts scandal, which prompted sweeping changes across the bank.
Critics of the union, however, contend that workers have grown frustrated because no collective bargaining agreements have yet been finalized at unionized Wells Fargo branches. The union maintains that progress has stalled because the bank has failed to negotiate in good faith.
Last month, the CWA filed an unfair labor practice charge alleging that Wells Fargo made changes to working conditions at the Egg Harbor branch without first bargaining with the union. The bank has not yet formally responded to that specific filing, though it has broadly denied wrongdoing in numerous labor cases brought before the NLRB. Several of those complaints have previously been dismissed or withdrawn.
The latest vote underscores the mixed trajectory of unionization efforts at Wells Fargo. While support for organized labor has weakened at several branches over the past year, employees in Egg Harbor chose to preserve their union, ensuring that at least one chapter of the bank’s organizing campaign remains intact.
