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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2018)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | December 21, 2018 | PAGE 25 Guest Opinion By Will Layng Executive Director of Portland Jobs with Justice Does Burgerville really ‘serve with love’? Growing up in a Presbyterian family in Atlanta effort to organize a union to win fair wages and in the ’80s, I learned important lessons about enough hours to be able to support themselves, faith, religion, and food. One thing I learned affordable health care so they can take care of was that after the blessing before dinner, it was themselves, and a voice at work. Workers best to avoid talk of religion until we finished have won elections to recognize their union at eating. Very few things can make you feel less two stores and recently won another election welcome than someone trying to stuff their re- at a third store in Portland. However, Burg- ligious beliefs down your throat along with erville has been hostile to workers’ organizing, your mashed potatoes. and has been slow in negotiating a contract As the Executive Director with workers at the union- of Portland Jobs with Justice, ized stores. The company’s I’ve been surprised to learn anti-union campaign led to Burgerville has been that Vancouver-based Burg- an ongoing boycott and reg- hostile to workers’ or- erville and its longtime ular strikes and pickets at ganizing, and has been leader, Tom Mears, think several stores. very differently about reli- Turns out that Mears is slow in negotiating a gion and food. Mears wrote just part of the Christian cor- contract with workers at a book in 2017 called ‘Serve porate filler involved in this the unionized stores With Love,’ which tells the recipe. The website for story of how Burgerville Serve With Love has an en- transformed itself into a dorsement from a retired “mission led” company, Wells Fargo executive, Jeff based on lofty principles: upholding the dig- Grubb. Grubb is a paid trustee of another Van- nity of all, making health care available for couver-based entity, the M.J. Murdock Chari- employees, and helping workers grow and suc- table Trust, a $1.2 billion endowed foundation. ceed. The Murdock Trust, among many laudable While most Christians would support those grants and investments, granted almost $1 mil- principles at face value, we should look deeper lion to the Alliance Defending Freedom, an at what Mears’ book is actually serving up. anti-LGBTQ hate group founded by James The book is promoted by a global organization Dobson. They also gave nearly $500,000 to the called the Nehemiah Project, which exists to Freedom Foundation, an anti-worker group train “kingdom companies” in “Biblical entre- opposing minimum wage improvements, paid preneurship(™)”. And if you are scratching sick days, and public employee unions. your head wondering what that means, you Dealing fairly with real life employees de- can pay the Nehemiah Project $3,770 to get manding justice and ending connections with certified in it at one of their seminars! hate groups and anti-worker foundations seem Like a day-old french fry, it gets more un- like great ways to live out Mears’ and Burg- appetizing. Burgerville workers throughout the erville’s words. We can talk about Biblical en- Portland area have been involved in a two year trepreneurship(™) after everyone has eaten. Happy Holidays from Letter Carriers Branch 82 Santa’s Helpers for 243 Years!
