Just a week or so ago, a Portland Oregon Burgerville became the first fast food restaurant to be unionized when its employees voted 18-4 in an NLRB sanctioned election to unionize and become members of the Portland chapter of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Immediately thereafter, employees of another of the Vancouver, Washington-based company’s 42 stores prepared to petition the National Labor Relations Board for their own union representation election – but they didn’t have to! No, the Burgerville brand withdrew its objection and cleared the path for the workers at the 2nd store to hold their own NLRB-sanctioned union election. That next election has been scheduled by the NLRB and will be held on May 12 and 13. We suspect the chain’s remaining 40 stores will soon follow suit.
