Second Wells Fargo branch employees vote in favor of a union

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wells Fargo employees at a branch in Daytona, Florida, voted in favor of joining a union on Thursday, making it the second branch at the bank to do so.

Last month employees at Wells Fargo's Albuquerque, New Mexico, branch voted to join the union. Elections at a branch in California are expected to be held later this month.

With the unionization effort at its branches, Wells Fargo, has become one of the first major U.S. lender to have a unionized workforce.

"We’re incredibly proud of the Daytona Beach Wells Fargo workers for joining their colleagues in Albuquerque in a successful union vote,” said Committee for Better Banks organizing director Nick Weiner.

The Daytona Beach employees voted 4-1 in favor of joining the Communications Workers of America's Wells Fargo Workers United (WFWU), the union said.

"Now with a true seat at the table, we look forward to negotiating improvements to staffing, workloads, pay inequities, and many other issues," said Corinne Jefferson, a personal banker at Wells Fargo’s Daytona Beach branch on International Speedway.

Some other employees at a branch in Bethel, Alaska, withdrew from the unionization effort last month.

Recent unionization campaigns across the U.S. have led to tense showdowns between employees and corporate behemoths. Lucrative deals clinched by unions such as the United Auto Workers, which secured record pay hikes for employees, have bolstered unionization efforts.

(Reporting by Nupur Anand in New York and Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)