The $1.9 trillion-asset company notified U.S. workers this week that they are eligible for the special cash award if they earned a salary of less than $75,000 last year, and their total cash compensation was less than $85,000. In addition, employees must meet certain criteria related to job performance and conduct.
Some international employees are also eligible, though workers based in India and the Philippines will qualify only if their salary is $25,000 or less.
"Our employees have worked hard over the last year to serve our customers in branches, over the phone, and in operations centers — or supported the employees who do — making a real difference for our company and customers,"
Joe Hertz, who works for
In Hertz's roughly 22 years at the San Francisco-based bank, the only other time that Wells made a similar award to employees was during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that was under different circumstances, he said.
Hertz is involved in the efforts to unionize
"I read it as a direct response to our union efforts," Hertz, who is an associate analyst at the bank, said in an interview. "I think not only can we take credit. I think we deserve to take credit."
Hertz elaborated in a Facebook post, saying that he believes the payment is a sign that Wells is feeling pressure from the labor organizing campaign.
"They are trying to buy our loyalty with a one-time bonus. They are hoping that we will forget about our grievances and give up on our union. They are wrong," Hertz wrote.
In recent months, workers at two
Nick Weiner is senior campaign lead at the Committee for Better Banks, which is heading the unionization push at
Weiner also said that
"So that's actually a positive development that we appreciated," Weiner said. "They didn't try to play games with it, which would have been kind of unlawful, to try to discriminate against the union branches."
The bank announced the one-time bonuses during the same week that
Members of the bank's board voted to approve total compensation of $29 million for Scharf, up from $24.5 million in 2022.
"Despite the improved performance of the company and the significant progress made, Mr. Scharf continues to believe negative discretion is appropriate to emphasize that more work remains ahead,"