Burgerville now allows tipping and may go on strike

Post Reply
Super S
Posts: 2691
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Burgerville now allows tipping and may go on strike

Post by Super S »

https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/tips-o ... on-strike/

In recent years, I am under the impression that this chain is trying to appeal more to the upscale crowd. Their prices are on the high end, and their food has become inconsistent from one location to the next.

The union angle is relatively new, and interesting that they are already talking about a strike at those locations.

I am not sure how their sales are, but I have noticed a lack of customers on my last several visits, and know several people who no longer feel they are a good value for what you get.

As much as I would prefer to support a local chain, they do a lot of things that don't really make sense.
SamSpade
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1570
Joined: September 13th, 2015, 4:39 pm
Has thanked: 374 times
Been thanked: 57 times
Status: Offline

Re: Burgerville now allows tipping and may go on strike

Post by SamSpade »

Here is the union's response:
(warning: The Portland Mercury alt-weekly website may contain banner ads considered offensive/not safe for work)
https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtow ... -increases
Super S
Posts: 2691
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: Burgerville now allows tipping and may go on strike

Post by Super S »

A strike is coming:

https://www.columbian.com/news/2019/oct ... es-strike/

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
storewanderer
Posts: 14384
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Online

Re: Burgerville now allows tipping and may go on strike

Post by storewanderer »

Super S wrote: October 20th, 2019, 8:30 am A strike is coming:

https://www.columbian.com/news/2019/oct ... es-strike/

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
"Burgerville announced on Wednesday a wage hike for all workers that amounted to a minimum $1-per-hour, bringing the lowest-paid workers’ wages to $13.25 per hour. The company took out a $3 million loan for the wage increases."

So basically to get their wages .25 above what is being required by law, they had to take out a $3 million loan.

I do not see this ending well for anyone involved and it doesn't appear the union situation is even what is causing the problem. Union probably needs to move on to deeper pocketed fast food chains.
Super S
Posts: 2691
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: Burgerville now allows tipping and may go on strike

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: October 20th, 2019, 9:16 pm
"Burgerville announced on Wednesday a wage hike for all workers that amounted to a minimum $1-per-hour, bringing the lowest-paid workers’ wages to $13.25 per hour. The company took out a $3 million loan for the wage increases."

So basically to get their wages .25 above what is being required by law, they had to take out a $3 million loan.

I do not see this ending well for anyone involved and it doesn't appear the union situation is even what is causing the problem. Union probably needs to move on to deeper pocketed fast food chains.
I am under the impression that Burgerville as a whole has been struggling. They have evolved from a regular fast food restaurant to one that gives an impression that they are appealing to the yuppie crowd, with prices increasing in the process. But what works in Vancouver doesn't necessarily work in places like Longview-Kelso or Centralia where the local economies are in worse shape. To have to take out a loan to cover wage increases indicates something is not right with the way the company is operating. But this is traditionally a minimum wage, entry-level line of work, not something to make a career out of.

Burgerville is very inconsistent from one store to the next in how every aspect of their restaurants operate. I maybe visit them once a year, and haven't been impressed at all the last few times.



I
storewanderer
Posts: 14384
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Online

Re: Burgerville now allows tipping and may go on strike

Post by storewanderer »

Super S wrote: October 21st, 2019, 8:57 am
storewanderer wrote: October 20th, 2019, 9:16 pm
"Burgerville announced on Wednesday a wage hike for all workers that amounted to a minimum $1-per-hour, bringing the lowest-paid workers’ wages to $13.25 per hour. The company took out a $3 million loan for the wage increases."

So basically to get their wages .25 above what is being required by law, they had to take out a $3 million loan.

I do not see this ending well for anyone involved and it doesn't appear the union situation is even what is causing the problem. Union probably needs to move on to deeper pocketed fast food chains.
I am under the impression that Burgerville as a whole has been struggling. They have evolved from a regular fast food restaurant to one that gives an impression that they are appealing to the yuppie crowd, with prices increasing in the process. But what works in Vancouver doesn't necessarily work in places like Longview-Kelso or Centralia where the local economies are in worse shape. To have to take out a loan to cover wage increases indicates something is not right with the way the company is operating. But this is traditionally a minimum wage, entry-level line of work, not something to make a career out of.

Burgerville is very inconsistent from one store to the next in how every aspect of their restaurants operate. I maybe visit them once a year, and haven't been impressed at all the last few times.

I have found Burgerville to be a poor value for the past decade. For what you get, the price point is way too high. They need to try harder on the whole offering; maybe do something to the fries to make them stand out better and be more generous on the portion, do something to the iced tea like a better tasting tea like Panda Express used to have (China Mist), etc. They clearly work with better quality ingredients than the larger fast food chains and you can see that in their sandwich items, and I really like their attempts to offer Northwest dairy items, desserts, etc., but the atmosphere of the locations, service provided, etc. does not seem to correlate well to what they are attempting to sell and to what they are charging.

I remember years ago when they did something to their registers to give you a personalized receipt showing all the nutrition information of your meal and its customizations. It was really weird.

Tough to say what the solution is; it is a competitive business.
Post Reply