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Portland restaurant workers vote to become first fast food union in the country
thehill.com ^ | 04/24/2018 | By Jacqueline Thomsen

Posted on 04/24/2018 11:37:39 AM PDT by Red Badger

Workers at a Burgerville restaurant in Portland, Ore., have voted to create the first formally recognized fast food union in the country.

Willamette Week reported Monday that staff at one of the chain’s locations voted 18-4 to unionize, more than two years after workers began the push to be formally recognized as a union.

Burgerville announced earlier this month that it would allow the staff to vote to unionize in a National Labor Relations Board-run election.

"We started the BVWU to try to make things better for ourselves and our coworkers," Burgerville employee Mark Medina told Willamette Week. "The union is about workers standing up for each other and building a better world."

The union is now planning to negotiate a raise of $5 an hour for hourly staffers, on top of affordable health care, child care and consistent hours.

The group had called on customers to boycott the Burgerville location since February, and its spokesperson said the boycott "will remain in effect until the union and the company negotiate a fair contract."

Beth Brewer, Burgerville's senior vice president of operations, said in a statement to Williamette Week that the company is "ready to support the nation's first unionized fast-food store."

"Our employees have spoken, we hear them, and we support their decision. We will navigate this new working relationship together in a positive, productive way and bargain in good faith with the union at Burgerville Store #41,” Brewer said.

A second Burgerville location in Portland has also filed to hold an election to unionize, but the company has not yet responded to the request.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; US: Oregon
KEYWORDS: oregon; unions
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To: Red Badger

affordable health care, child care


You forgot this. But it doesn’t have to be free in the negotiation.

Might as well have some fun on the way down...............

You are right, the goal is to destroy.


81 posted on 04/24/2018 3:38:18 PM PDT by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: Red Badger

Is Burgerville publicly traded? Sounds like it might be a good candidate for shorting.


82 posted on 04/24/2018 3:42:00 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: ltc8k6

So agree to dump E-Verify, fire these folks, and hire much cheaper illegals.

Maybe management does know what they are doing. I’ll hold off on my idea of shorting them.


83 posted on 04/24/2018 3:45:54 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: Nifster

No, but they sure taste good!


84 posted on 04/24/2018 3:51:25 PM PDT by Reno89519 (No Amnesty! No Catch-and-Release! Just Say No to All Illegal Aliens! Arrest & Deport!)
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To: Red Badger

Soon to be replaced by KIOS machines.


85 posted on 04/24/2018 3:53:46 PM PDT by Enlightened1
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To: Amendment10

Don’t be so narrow minded. Let’s repeal everything from the 14th Amendment through the 26th.

I’ll accept the ban on slavery (13th) and the dozen before, and the restriction on Congressional pay raises (27th).


86 posted on 04/24/2018 3:53:58 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: 3_if_by_Treason

Good description of most labor unions.


87 posted on 04/24/2018 3:55:59 PM PDT by Rusty0604
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To: keat
On the other hand, the newly formed union may become a target of acquisition by a real union,

The Teamsters or the Mine Workers would be my choice.

88 posted on 04/24/2018 3:56:24 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: Reno89519

True enough


89 posted on 04/24/2018 4:18:45 PM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: Maine Mariner

Oh, she had a choice....she didn’t have to say “support the nations first unionized fast food store”....she could have said “support our employees” .....I’ve been in the middle of decertifying a union before....you don’t have to be a wussie


90 posted on 04/24/2018 5:09:51 PM PDT by goodnesswins (White Privilege EQUALS Self Control)
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To: PeterPrinciple

HA...E.X.A.C.T.L.Y


91 posted on 04/24/2018 5:11:06 PM PDT by goodnesswins (White Privilege EQUALS Self Control)
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To: Eagles6

LOL, the five years is to let things...”marinate” for them...:)


92 posted on 04/24/2018 5:22:29 PM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists: They believe in the "Invisible Hand" only when it is guided by government.)
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To: Obadiah

93 posted on 04/24/2018 5:24:08 PM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists: They believe in the "Invisible Hand" only when it is guided by government.)
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To: Red Badger

My 30-year-old married daughter moved to Portland from Arizona last summer because she fell in love with the place when visiting friends who’d moved there. She’s got extensive experience as a waitress but couldn’t get a server job because they tend to promote from within after making you start at the bottom! After less than a year there, she’s planning on leaving ASAP because she’s sick of the expense, the traffic, and especially the self-absorbed whining Portlandians, lol. She’s been working as a medical courier for the last few months, driving to places like McMinnville, and she really loves it, mainly because of the scenic countryside and the solitude!


94 posted on 04/24/2018 5:39:52 PM PDT by Prince of Space (UNBORN LIVES MATTER!)
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To: Red Badger
Who knew Portlandia was a reality show????????

It's not??? Oh well, my favorite reality show is Trailer Park Boys anyway.

95 posted on 04/24/2018 6:08:55 PM PDT by BBell (calm down and eat your sandwiches)
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To: Red Badger

That sound you hear is the sound of robots and other automation replacing Portland restaurant workers.


96 posted on 04/24/2018 6:11:38 PM PDT by Freedom_Is_Not_Free (What profits a man if he gains the world yet loses his soul?)
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To: Red Badger
The union is now planning to negotiate a raise of $5 an hour for hourly staffers, on top of affordable health care, child care and consistent hours.

Tell that to the 5 or 6 workers who get canned due to increased labor costs. Either that, or the prices go up a couple bucks per burger, they lose customers to the cheaper competition, and all 20+ workers are spending their days at the Union Hall or hiring out as "Rent-a-Mob" workers up and down the Left Coast!

97 posted on 04/24/2018 6:16:29 PM PDT by ssaftler (It's not the "deep state". It's the "odoriferous oligarchy")
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To: Calvin Locke

I doubt many people would call the Ford Executive Dining room a burger joint, though.


98 posted on 04/25/2018 12:57:16 AM PDT by ltc8k6
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To: Red Badger

“Our employees have spoken, we hear them, and we support their decision. We will navigate this new working relationship together in a positive, productive way and bargain in good faith with the union at Burgerville Store #41,” Brewer said.

That’s exactly what the management had to say. They are required to bargain “in good faith” which is the exact clause used in the law. To do otherwise would be in violation of Taft-Hartley (1935?). I wouldn’t assign obsequiousness to the company just yet. They have to deal with the NLRB and their lawyers probably wrote that message.


99 posted on 04/25/2018 1:25:21 AM PDT by FXRP (Just me and the pygmy pony)
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To: Enlightened1

Our Sam’s Club already has kiosks where you order/pay for your food at their snack bar. 5 kiosks, no waiting, just make your selections on the touchscreen, insert card and you’re done...................


100 posted on 04/25/2018 5:59:55 AM PDT by Red Badger (Remember all the great work Obama did for the black community?.............. Me neither.)
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