Burgerville announces across-the-board wage hikes

After that, the minimum wage will be adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index.

Washington uses a single minimum wage throughout the state — currently $12 per hour — but it is scheduled to increase following a similar formula: a hike to $13.50 in 2020 and an annual adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index starting in 2021.

The press release includes a breakdown of Burgerville’s salary ranges both before and after the December hike goes into effect. Crew members in Washington are currently paid $12 to $13.05 per hour, and crew members in Oregon are currently paid $12.50 to $13.55. The range for both groups will rise to $13.50 to $16.18.

The change in Burgerville’s wages represents a $3 million investment made possible by a loan, the company said. Burgerville did not identify the source of the loan.

“Burgerville is working to make the Pacific Northwest the healthiest region on the planet. We cannot do that without our employees,” Burgerville CEO Jill Taylor said in a written statement. “While the 2018 cyberattack resulted in some significant and unplanned expenditures for our company, I am pleased that this year, our focus is back to our critical human infrastructure: our employees.”

Taylor’s statement went on to discuss other recent shakeups in Burgerville’s payroll system. Over the summer, the company began rolling out an update to its point-of-sale system to allow tipping. It also announced a policy change in August to begin providing holiday pay on seven holidays.

Workers currently earn an average of 75 cents to $1.50 per hour in tips on top of their base pay, the company reported.

The changes come in the midst of ongoing negotiations between the company and the Burgerville Workers Union, which represents workers at five Burgerville restaurants in Portland.

Press releases and social media posts from the union have consistently criticized the company for offering insufficient pay. The union has also been putting out ongoing calls for customers to boycott Burgerville until the company reaches a deal with the union.

Portland union responds

The union criticized the wage hike in a press release on Wednesday afternoon, dismissing it as insufficient and a “marketing ploy” aimed at undermining organizing efforts.

“Burgerville is trying to pacify workers with an insubstantial raise that will be rendered meaningless in six months,” the union wrote, referring to the next scheduled minimum wage hike. The statement argued that it was pressure from the union that prompted Burgerville’s change in policy.

“Within minutes of taking a break from today’s bargaining session, Burgerville sent out a companywide email announcing the new policy as an act of corporate benevolence,” the union wrote. “The way Burgerville tells it, the union had nothing to do with these changes, neither as the instigator or a collaborator.”

According to an earlier post on the union’s Facebook page, Wednesday’s session was part of a final scheduled round of bargaining. The post states that the union will hold a rally at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Portland waterfront to announce either the end of the boycott (if a contract is reached) or “the beginning of a major strike.”

In an email to The Columbian, the union said the decision on whether to strike will be determined on the results of bargaining over the next several days.

When asked about the union’s comments, Barbour wrote in an email that the wage increase had been in the works for the past six months, and that the loan was secured for the sole purpose of enhancing employee compensation.

“That’s how important this was to us,” she wrote. “The goal is not to pacify the workforce, or the union. It’s to establish a more comprehensive career ladder for our committed workforce, and increase wages for all members of our workforce.”