PAGE 2 | April 5, 2019 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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UNION ORGANIZING
Fast food workers
launch union at
Little Big Burger
PORTLAND — A new fast food union
launched publicly March 16 when a group of
Little Big Burger employees — accompanied
by over 100 picket-sign-wielding supporters
— presented a letter seeking union recogni-
tion to a restaurant manager at the company’s
930 NW 23rd Ave location.
“We are asking them to voluntarily recog-
nize us, let us organize freely, and not union
bust,” Little Big Burger employee Ashley
Reyes told the Labor Press.
The new union, dubbed Little Big Union,
is affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the
World, the labor organization behind Burg-
erville Workers Union. A press statement an-
nouncing the union said worker grievances
include low wages, too few hours, short-
staffing, poor training, and unprofessional be-
havior by management.
Little Big Burger serves a simple menu of
small hamburgers, truffle fries and root beer
floats, “in a fun and hip atmosphere,” as the
company web site puts it. The company was
founded in 2010 by Portland restauranteurs
Micah Camden and Katie Poppe, the duo
who later started Blue Star Donuts and Boxer
Ramen. They sold Little Big Burger in 2015
for $6.1 million to Chanticleer Holdings, Inc.,
the North Carolina based company that owns
Hooters. But by then, a group of Little Big
Burger employees had filed a class action suit
against the company over unpaid overtime.
The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit said Little Big
Burger fired him for complaining about the
unpaid overtime and for suggesting to co-
workers that they take action to get paid. Us-
ing funds Chanticleer had set aside out of the
purchase price, Camden and Poppe settled the
lawsuit in February 2016 for $675,000, in-
cluding $225,000 for attorney fees.
Today Little Big Burger has 20 locations:
12 in the Portland metro area, one each in Eu-
gene and Austin, and three each in Seattle and
North Carolina.
Reyes, 23, said she gets minimum wage
and no benefits after 17 months working at
Little Big Burger. But she and co-workers
have already seen collective action get results,
she said: Workers signed a petition asking for
safety slip mats … and got immediate agree-
ment from Little Big Burger management.
“I love my co-workers,” Reyes said. “I
think we’re worth fighting for.”
On its web site, Little Big Union says
members want a transparent pay scale and
raises of $5 an hour, health insurance benefits,
two weeks paid vacation, child care, paid
parental leave, bus and parking passes, food
boxes, and shift beers. They also want an end
to at-will employment, the right to refuse
service to abusive customers, a commitment
to fix or replace tools and machinery in a
timely manner, and to not use E-verify check
workers’ documentation status.
Little Big Burger media relations did not
respond to an email from the Labor Press.
Portland regional manager Adrian Oca told
Little Big Union in an email that the company
won’t voluntarily recognize the union, but is
willing to meet.