Two union elections supervised by the National Labor Relations Board made official what the Burgerville Workers Union had already told the Burgerville fast food chain — that a majority of workers at the company’s Montavilla and Convention Center locations in Portland want to be represented by the union, which is affiliated with Industrial Workers of the World.
The April 3 vote at the 8218 NE Glisan St. store was 15 to 9 in favor of the union, with 24 out of 28 crew members casting a ballot. The April 5 vote at the 1135 NE Martin Luther King Blvd. store was 14 to 7 for the union, with 21 of 37 crew members voting.
That brings to five the number of locations that are officially unionized. The others are at 3504 SE 92nd Ave, Portland, 19119 SE McLoughlin Blvd., Gladstone, and 1122 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland.
In bargaining, the union celebrated a company concession April 11: The company will allow tipping, and will set up a system to allow customers to tip in the next month or two. The union is asking the public to boycott the company until a contract is signed.
