We talk to Drew Edmonds, a Burgerville worker in Portland, Oregon, and an organizer with the Burgerville Workers Union. We talk about the fight Drew and his coworkers led to form the nation’s first federally recognized fast food union (followed by workers at Little Big Burger, another Portland chain). We talk about what it was like to unionize from the ground up across Burgerville stores, about how they have used the power of their union in the push to secure better wages and fairer treatment, and about the union-busting backlash and firings that they’ve faced from the company in response. We also talk about how their story speaks to the effectiveness and necessity of the organizing model of the IWW (the Industrial Workers of the World), which both the Burgerville Workers Union and the Little Big Union are affiliated with. 

 

Additional links/info below...

• Boycott Burgerville 
• Burgerville Workers Union Facebook page and Twitter page
• Little Big Union website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Wikipedia page and Twitter page
• Shane Burley, ThinkProgress, "These Burgerville Employees Organized the First Official Fast Food Labor Union in the Country"
• Eater Portland, Behind Portland's Fight for Unionized Fast Food Restaurants 
• Don McIntosh, NW Labor Press, "Burgerville Continues to Fire Pro-Union Workers"
• Elise Herron, Willamette Week, "Workers at Little Big Burger Form Union, Joining Portland Fast-Food Labor Drive"
• Kim Kelly, Teen Vogue, "Fast-Food Industry Workers Continue to Fight for Their Right to Unionize" 
• Annelise Orleck, Beacon Press, "We Are All Fast-Food Workers Now": The Global Uprising Against Poverty Wages 

 

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

• Lobo Loco, "Malte Junior - Hall"
• Cletus Got Shot, "Gravedigger"