© Burgerville Workers Union/Facebook
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Soon to be FORMER employees......................
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.
© Burgerville Workers Union/Facebook
______________________________________________________________________________
Soon to be FORMER employees......................
Ro, Ro, Ro your bot.
This should accelerate the roboticization of the fast food industry.
Fine by me.
They likely will be in bankruptcy within a year.
Yep
So, there has been a boycott of Burgerville, “in support of” the workers, and their attainment of $5/hour raises plus additional benefits.
Seems like people might get used to not going to Burgerville. When Burgerville is all up and running with the newly endowed employees with big raises and benefits, how much will the cost of food increase? $3 more for a burger? I expect they will be priced out of the local fast food business, but then, it is Portland, after all.
Heck, I’d boycott them now just BECAUSE they are union ...
Macheesmo Mouse is more my type of place when I’m in the Williamette.
Look at the idiot in back with the raised fist.
Well, they got a “living wage”. They not only screwed the young people trying to break into the job market behind them, they screwed themselves.
They won’t be living long on it. It would be interesting to do a five year follow-up on this chain and the people in this picture.
Yes if i never have to hear Esprite when I said SPRITE
and wait until their $5 an hour, gets sucked away by their biweekly union dues.
Spot on. And this place will be closed in 6 to 8 months. There will be an initial bump of support from the Portland types and then business will fall off the cliff after the novelty has worn off and people no longer wish to pay $13 for a fast-food hamburger that costs less than half that just across the street.
With the kind of training and experience you need for this job, I can see why they would demand high wages.
Not everyone can be Spongebob.
Great! We’ll just replace you with automated systems. No unions for them. Yet.
...as she furiously unloads her stock in the company...
And, therein lies the problem....MANAGEMENT!
What, no "work at home" days?
They’ll be out of business in a year.
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