Portland is Ground Zero for Fast Food Union Organizing in the U.S.

Updated 3/18/19 at 7:00am

The demand for $15 and a union first made national news on November 29, 2012 when New York City fast food workers from major chain restaurants including Domingo’s, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, KFC, Burger King, Wendy’s, and McDonald’s walked off their jobs on a one day strike for higher wages, better working conditions, and the right to form a union. Since then a $15 minimum wage has been passed in four of the nation’s largest states as well as in numerous cities. However, winning the nation’s first legally recognized fast food workers union didn’t happen until six years later in 2018 and, perhaps surprisingly, it didn’t happen in NYC.

Over the past three years Portland, Oregon has become ground zero for fast food union organizing in the United States. On April 26, 2016 Burgerville workers held a rally at The Clinton Street Theater in Portland announcing their union to hundreds of community supporters. Burgerville is a local fast food chain with dozens of stores throughout Oregon that touts sustainably produced food, and promotes itself as a caring employer that is part of your family and community.

Of course that’s just public relations. The truth about the way Burgerville treats its employees would become apparent during the course of the workers’ struggle.

When they went public as a part of the Portland IWW, in addition to formal recognition of their union the Burgerville Workers Union (BVWU) demanded an immediate $5 an hour raise, affordable and quality healthcare, a safe and healthy workplace, fair and consistent scheduling with ample notice, a supportive and sustainable workplace including paid maternity-paternity leave, free childcare, and transportation stipends. A year later they added the demand that the company stop using e-verify, the system employers use to check the immigration status of prospective employees.

In the three years since they went public BVWU has organized a boycott of the company that has spread throughout the city. Workers have engaged in dozens of strikes and other collective workplace actions, many of which have shutdown Burgerville locations at peak hours.

Community members have also engaged in direct action in support of Burgerville workers. More than once members of the local carpenters union have shown up to BVWU pickets with a huge barbecue to cook burgers for anyone who refused to cross the picket line. In 2107, Burgerville customers and supporters blocked cash registers at the store near the Portland Convention Center.

During those same three years Burgerville has engaged in union busting and retaliatory punishment and firing of union workers, their security guards have physically assaulted workers and community members, and the company has paid out thousands of dollars to settle wage and hours violations.

None of that dirty behavior has deterred workers, however. In April 2018 BVWU made labor history when workers at the store on SE 92nd & Powell won an NLRB Union election and become the first federally recognized fast food workers union in U.S. history. A second union election victory took place only weeks later at the Gladstone store just outside of Portland. In November 2018 a third location on Hawthorne Blvd. won its union election. Now less than a week ago on March 11, 2019, workers at the Montavilla and Convention Center stores in Portland announced their intention to file for union elections.

The fire of fast food worker union organizing in Portland continues to spread as workers at a second iconic, local Portland fast food chain have announced their union. On Saturday March 16, 2019, workers at Little Big Burger publicly announced their union, called The Little Big Union, at a rally with about 100 community supporters in attendance. Echoing the Burgerville Workers Union public launch rally three years earlier, this Little Big Rally included a march to the nearby NW 23rd Little Big Burger location to officially present the demand for union recognition. Management listened as workers read a prepared statement announcing their union and demands, and in an early victory for workers, much needed safety gloves were delivered to workers at the store within two hours.

Will Little Big Burger voluntarily recognize the workers’ union? Time will tell. If not, it is still unknown whether or not The Little Big Union will follow the BVWU example and file for union elections.

Regardless of how this newest fast food union campaign plays out one thing is for certain, Portland has become ground zero for fast food union organizing in the United States.

*Update: This article incorrectly stated that Little Big Burger locked its doors to workers and the community when the march arrived. That was incorrect, we regret the error, and the article has been updated with accurate information.