Workers at four Portland Burgerville locations ended their four-day strike on Sunday after both sides agreed to schedule additional rounds of labor contract negotiations. The most recent bargaining session was held on Friday.
“Today, we’re back to work both at our stores, and at the bargaining table,” the Burgerville Workers Union posted on its Facebook page. “Faced with our collective power, Burgerville is ready to actually negotiate with us over wages, and it feels like we have a real path forward toward a fair contract and a living wage.”
Burgerville CEO Jill Taylor issued a news release confirming that all workers are returning to their scheduled shifts, and thanking the fast food chain’s customers during the strike.
Taylor said contract negotiations will continue “in a few weeks.”
“We support the rights of all our workers,” she said.
The Vancouver-based chain has 41 restaurants in Oregon and Washington, five of which are unionized. The collective bargaining has been going on for more than a year. The union walked away from negotiations on Oct. 18, citing what it characterized as the company’s unwillingness to consider the union’s latest wage proposal. Last Wednesday, union workers at four of the unionized locations walked off the job and began picketing.
Both sides agreed that the talks had been progressing, but then had stalled over the issue of wages. The union later agreed to come back for the bargaining session last Friday, even as it continued to conduct strike actions during the week and through the weekend.
On Thursday evening, the union staged a rally outside the company’s Vancouver offices, though a planned all-night camp-out was canceled after some counter-demonstrators appeared, including Joey Gibson, the leader of the Patriot Prayer protest group.
Burgerville announced earlier this month it would borrow $3 million in order to raise wages for all crew members at all restaurants by $1-$3 per hour. By Dec. 30. that would bring the workers’ pay to $13.50-$16 per hour, plus tips, which the company says amount to 82 cents to $4.24 per hour, depending on location. Hourly employees are also eligible for health insurance.
The union called those raises insufficient, and said that rising minimum wages in both states would quickly catch up. Portland’s minimum wage is set to reach $13.25 next summer, and Washington’s minimum wage will be $13.50 in January.
All of the chain’s restaurants remained open during the strike, the company said. The union claimed that the four stores affected by the strike closed early or operated only their take-out windows.
Burgerville employs more than 1,600 people total at its restaurants, most of which are not unionized.
This story has been updated to clarify the timeline of the bargaining sessions.
