A budding movement is taking shape to unionize staffers at JPMorgan Chase, America’s biggest bank by assets. If the yearslong unionization effort at Wells Fargo is any indication, they could have a long road ahead.
Last week, JPMorgan’s organizers hosted a virtual meeting with a unionizer who was involved in Wells Fargo’s effort to “share lessons learned,” according to an email shared with members earlier this week. The Wells Fargo drive, which is also supported by a coalition called the Committee for Better Banks, has stretched on for two years with little success.
The meeting resulted in the following advice, according to a post on the JPMC Workers Alliance’s official website:
- “Build trust before going public.”
- “Use natural workplace conversations (e.g. breaks, lunch, text conversations) to test the waters and build confidence.”
- “Talk outside of work with colleagues to gauge their sentiment.”
- “Keep management in the dark about the process.”
- “Push back against illegal management activity. Managers may not *SPIT: Surveil, Promise, Interfere, or Threaten with respect to unionizing activity or outcomes — but they may not know this.”
- “Reframe the risks to increase confidence: The status quo is the real hazard. Would they fire the whole department?”
JPMorgan’s unionization effort was spawned in large part by the bank’s return-to-office policies. Earlier this year, JPMorgan summoned the roughly 40% of its workers who were still on a COVID-era hybrid work schedule back to their desks five days a week, kicking off complaints from employees of the Polaris campus, a major technology hub for the firm. Unlike JPMorgan’s investment bankers, tech workers had been working from home a couple of days a week.
It’s unclear how many JPMorgan workers have agreed to unionize as a result, but the JPMC Workers Alliance website boasts members from a number of US states, including New York, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, as well as multiple cities in the United Kingdom.
To build support, JPMorgan’s organizers have been handing out flyers and hosting events, including a recent pizza party at JPMorgan’s massive Polaris campus in Columbus, Ohio, which attracted hundreds of employees. New members are vetted by a group of organizers responsible for confirming their identities and welcoming them to the alliance’s group chat on Discord, a messaging app popular with video gamers.
The event drew an estimated 250 to 300 workers, said a JPMorgan employee affiliated with the union who requested anonymity to protect his job. As employees lined up to grab a slice, organizers approached them to discuss the labor movement and its goals, this person said.
“Happy International Workers Day,” read the flyers, which were viewed by Business Insider. “Did your leadership thank you today? You deserve better.”
The handouts asked questions like:
- “Have you had to stand in the rain waiting for the shuttle?”
- “Was 30 days enough notice for you to find child care before RFTO?” The acronym refers to the full-time return to work.
- “Have you struggled to find an open desk?”
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