Little Big Burger employees wanting to unionize are taking issue with the potential terms of a union vote that could happen as early as next week. It might sound counterintuitive to Little Big Union’s (LBU) mission—but organizers say the vote, arranged by the company, is an attempt to quash their burgeoning union before it gets off the ground.
Little Big Burger employees announced they were beginning the process of unionizing in March, fighting for higher wages, better working conditions, and to do away with the company’s “at-will” firing policy. But Little Big Burger’s parent company, Chanticleer Holdings, Inc., refused to voluntarily recognize the union, forcing negotiations into a standstill. Since then, Chanticleer—which owns a number of restaurant chains across the US—has reportedly engaged in several classic anti-union tactics, even going so far as to fire an employee who went on strike.
It might come as a surprise, then, that Chanticleer recently filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), asking that workers at all 13 Oregon Little Big Burger locations vote on unionization next week. It’s rare for companies, rather than organizing workers, to petition the NLRB for a union vote—in fact, only 50 US companies did so in 2018—and LBU organizers suspect that this is an attempt on Chanticleer’s part to force a losing vote.
They point to Chanticleer’s insistence on having all Oregon locations vote in one week—including locations as far away as Eugene, where the Portland-based LBU has yet to establish a presence—as an example of the company’s bad faith. They also say that the timing of the votes (from 3 to 5 pm next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday) is an inconvenient window for many employees working the dinner rush. To make matters worse, Chanticleer’s proposed timing happens to coincide with finals week at Portland State University, where many Little Big Burger workers are students.
“These are hardly the terms of a good-faith election,” said employee Geran Wales in a LBU press release sent out Monday morning. “I would hope that when a NLRB election does occur, that it does so under conditions that would allow for and encourage mass participation.”
In a email sent to the Mercury, Chanticleer Regional Vice President Adrian Oca said the dates and times suggested for a union vote fit the parameters set forth in NLRB’s voting guide. He also said Chanticleer’s reasoning for requesting a vote is simple: LBU has yet to petition for a vote, so Chanticleer did it for them.
“We did so because we believed that was the most efficient way to get our employees a free, fair election,” Oca wrote. “Unlike LBU, which is funded by outsiders and led by insurgents who bounce from employer to employer in order to create unrest, Little Big Burger takes into account the needs and wishes of all of our associates. Since LBU first appeared in March of this year, it has accomplished very little but causing unrest among our team members, who have been very clear in asking that we please resolve this as soon as possible.”
The NLRB will hold a hearing in Portland this Friday, June 7, to consider Chanticleer’s petition. LBU plans to contest Chanticleer’s proposed dates during the hearing, and will counter with days and times meant to encourage high employee participation.
Portland law firm McKanna Bishop Joffe (MBJ) will represent the union during the hearing. In a motion to postpone the hearing, which was originally scheduled for Wednesday, MBJ attorney Noah Warman called Chanticleer’s petition for a vote “novel,” noting that even in the rare cases when companies do ask for a union vote, the circumstances are usually quite different than the case at hand:
“[O]rdinarily such petitions are filed where an incumbent union’s majority support is at issue – i.e., where there is a history of bargaining, an established collective bargaining relationship, and a clear and pre-existing bargaining unit. … [In this case] there is no agreed-upon established bargaining unit and certainly no history of collective bargaining between these parties.”
Editor’s note: Language in this article, including the headline, has been edited to better reflect Little Big Union’s stance on the potential union vote.
They don’t want at-will employment?? Sorry, but that’s how it is for nearly all Oregon workers who aren’t unionized. Not sure that fast food workers would succeed in something that even skilled workers & trades don’t have. If they want better job security & pay, I’m sorry but that’s something you work toward during the course of your career. But most of us remain at-will employees wherever we work, and have the right to work elsewhere, too.
Can you please post the Company’s entire response so we can have all the facts to properly make heads or tails of this situation?
I hate what these groups are doing to our once great city. Was with my family one day recently when they were out picketing and singing songs about solidarity. At first I thought they were a bunch of Antifa members all dressed in black. Frankly made me a little scared for our safety. My little daughter asked me what they were doing yelling and waving flags? We didn’t stick around long enough to find out. Here’s a thought children, work hard and earn what you deserve rather than threatening and destroying local businesses causing the rest of us to have to pay more! God help our community if these people are representative of the next generation. From now on, we are sticking to the burbs.
Wait hold on…they demanded a union and a vote. The company then gives them exactly what they asked for…but now they don’t want it? You can’t make this stuff up. I thought the first article you wrote about fast food workers demanding a union was satire. Little did I know the comedy gold that would continue to come from all of this!
Wait, what? The union is the people but the union does not want the people to vote unless it is people the union knows? What? So the company calls for an election and the union does not bother to go and organize and instead is worried about stopping a vote? The company called for an election and instead of the union doing their job and getting out there to get votes they want to stop the vote? What kind of union is this? Who cares if it is rare or common, the people are going to be allowed to vote in a secret ballot election…. But wait, union officials may actually have to work a little harder….. Why is this even in the news as it makes real unions look terrible.
tt really bugs me when a reporter doesn’t take the time to learn the basics of what they are writing about. This burger company couldn’t have “forced negotiations to a standstill” because under federal law it isn’t allowed to “negotiate” with an alleged union until that union is duly elected by a majority of the employees in a free and fair election certified by the federal NLRB. This article reflects willful ignorance of the basic facts underlying its premise
Love it…this article has been edited to accommodate the unions perspective. Only in Oregon! New title and all. Good job Blair. There goes your Pulitzer!
Lots of astro turfers and the usual band of idiots. Little big big burger must be afraid. No real portlander is anti-union and no real portlander thinks service work is less than.
“We are writing to encourage you to use the secret ballot in all union recognition elections…We understand the secret ballot is allowed for but not required by Mexican labor law. However we feel that the secret ballot is absolutely necessary in order to ensure that workers are not intimidated into voting for a union they might not otherwise choose.” – 2001 letter to Mexican President Fox by Bernie Sanders, Kucinich, Narney Frank and 12 other luminaries of the left. Because petitions instead of secret ballots are intimidation mechanisms in other countries, but okey dokey in the US where their donors live.
We need Union jobs. You overpaid unaware how hard it is suburb living elites want to eat ice cream and cookies but don’t want those serving you to have a chance of a middle class life. Service workers are the factory workers of the 50s to 80s, who had Union jobs and could afford to enjoy, ENJOY, life. Simple vacations, cars, able to save money, good health Care. All the benefits of my dad’s Union job as a beer truck driver. He raised 7 kids, paid for private grade school all because of a union job. More in unions Less profit for share holders. Company has no business calling for a vote.
You or some other local media said in an early article that the average associate at LBB makes $17 an hour including tips. If true, then the company should have no problem replacing any of them. I think I’m going to apply for a job!