Union Sees Dollar Signs in Bank Workers

A two-million member union representing service workers sees dollar signs in bank employees.

The Service Employees International Union, or the SEIU, is setting its sights on unionizing "front-line financial workers," to help win better salaries, benefits and other working conditions. SEIU was joined by Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.) on Tuesday to made its case for organizing Bank of America (BAC) employees on a conference call with reporters.

While SEIU wraps its arguments in a cloak of morality, the ultimate goal is profitability. There were 608,000 tellers in 2006, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the occupation is expected to grow another 13% by 2016. That's a lot of potential union dues. Ellison, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, counts unions as three of the top five contributors to his campaigns, according to OpenSecrets.org. ...