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November 1, 2019 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
NORTHWEST
LABOR
PRESS
...Burgerville strike
From Page 1
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looked at the unilateral an-
nouncement as the company’s
way of sidestepping the bargain-
ing process and putting the
union at a disadvantage.
The strike began at 11:30 a.m.
Oct. 23 at the 8218 NE Glisan
St. location. Striking workers
formed a caravan and traveled to
three other locations, where
workers joined them in walking
out: 1135 NE MLK Blvd., 1122
SE Hawthorne Blvd., and 3504
SE 92nd Ave. Workers at a fifth
unionized location, 19119 SE
McLoughlin Blvd., didn’t take
part in the strike. At least ini-
tially, dining rooms closed at the
struck stores, though managers
continued to operate the drive-
throughs.
Rather than maintain a con-
stant picket outside the struck
stores, strikers instead assem-
bled with supporters for daily
actions. On Oct. 23 they pick-
eted the Rose Quarter location
on opening night of the Portland
Trail Blazers basketball season.
On Oct. 24 they protested out-
side Burgerville corporate head-
quarters in Vancouver. On Oct.
25 a roving picket went from
store to store. And on Oct. 26
they gathered at the Hawthorne
store for a pancake feed with In-
dustrial Workers of the World
Striking Burgerville worker Betty Buchanan makes minimum wage — $12.50
an hour — after nine months working the drive-through at the NE 82nd and
Glisan location. “I’m on strike because it’s not fair that we make minimum
wage, when you know how much work we do and how hard we work.”
members from all over the
Northwest.
Burgerville Workers Union is
proposing that the starting wage
be set at $1 above minimum
wage, rising 50 cents above that
each year. The union also wants
a clear process for workers to
get full time hours: Most work-
ers are scheduled just under 30
hours a week, which is the com-
pany’s threshold for health ben-
efits, said union spokesperson
Emmett Schlenz.
Would paying more than
minimum wage put Burgerville
out of business? At the bargain-
ing table, Burgerville is repre-
sented by Kristin Bremer Moore
of the Tonkon Torp law firm.
She’s been very careful not to
say the company can’t afford
pay increases, unionists say, be-
cause that would trigger an ob-
ligation to open the privately
held company’s books to prove
it.
In the Oct. 16 press release
announcing the raise, Burg-
erville said it secured a loan to
make the wage increase possi-
ble.
Burgerville’s bargaining team
has also thrown a legal curve-
ball into negotiations, says attor-
ney Kate Suisman, who’s been
helping the union in negotia-
tions: The company claims it
can’t pay unionized workers
more than workers at non-union
stores because of Oregon’s new
pay equity law, which was
meant to end discriminatory pay
disparities.
Thus far, the two sides have
tentatively agreed to several
provisions: an option to bank an
anniversary bonus to use as va-
cation pay, and a system en-
abling workers to donate sick
leave to co-workers who face a
health emergency. Schlenz said
they also seemed close to agree-
ing to a policy giving employees
more predictable schedules.
Burgerville has already im-
plemented company-wide one
of the union’s key proposals:
Tip jars and a tipping option in
its point-of-sale systems. Tips
are pooled among staff, and so
far, they’re adding 75 cents to
$1.50 an hour to workers’ pay.
The two sides are scheduled
to meet again for further negoti-
ations on Nov. 5.
Burgerville Workers Union is
asking the public to boycott all
Burgerville locations until the
company signs a union contract.