Unionization of restaurant employees

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Re: Unionization of restaurant employees

Post by Brian Lutz »

Another Starbucks is pushing to unionize its employees, this time in Seattle:

https://komonews.com/news/local/capitol ... o-unionize
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Re: Unionization of restaurant employees

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: December 20th, 2021, 7:43 pm
SamSpade wrote: December 11th, 2021, 10:35 am The Starbucks unionization effort was successful.

Burgerville has also reopened several locations and is working through things. Unlike some of the examples cited on HBO's "Last Week Tonight" recently, Burgerville did come to an agreement with its employee union and many of the policies they fought for are now implemented region-wide.
Lents Location to Reopen by Year End
If this union thing can enable Burgerville to.. actually operate its locations, during normal operating hours, with all service options (drive through, to go, dine in) available, it may be quite an advantage.
A lot of the closures had to do with operating with Covid restrictions, and many chains STILL are not operating dining areas and are open limited hours. Maybe unions could weed out some really bad franchise operators? I don't know the answer.
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Re: Unionization of restaurant employees

Post by ClownLoach »

storewanderer wrote: December 20th, 2021, 7:43 pm
SamSpade wrote: December 11th, 2021, 10:35 am The Starbucks unionization effort was successful.

Burgerville has also reopened several locations and is working through things. Unlike some of the examples cited on HBO's "Last Week Tonight" recently, Burgerville did come to an agreement with its employee union and many of the policies they fought for are now implemented region-wide.
Lents Location to Reopen by Year End
If this union thing can enable Burgerville to.. actually operate its locations, during normal operating hours, with all service options (drive through, to go, dine in) available, it may be quite an advantage.
My trip last month was enough for Burgerville. The prices have skyrocketed under this union. The dining room was closed and looked like tables had become a new stock room area. I wanted to try it and see if it was as good as it used to be - and basically got what looked and tasted like a Burger King Whopper with half the meat for something around $8, plus a microscopic amount of fries for over $3. I'm not kidding when I say that the big flat piece of meat was barely thicker than a slice of bologna. I didn't see that this food was any fresher or any better than Burger King. No ketchup was in the bag either after they asked me what sauces I wanted, and of course the only way to correct would be to go through the drive thru again. And one napkin for an order for two people. Clearly these unionized workers love their job and take pride in their work and service to the customer. Last time I visit Burgerville. Their focus on supposedly quality ingredients is pointless when the burgers clearly are cooked hours in advance and microwaved to order.

In-N-Out has made it to Salem with an insanely busy location, and supposedly once they're done with their big Colorado launch then they're landing in the Pacific Northwest. It's going to happen sooner than later as I've heard their people have boots on the ground looking at locations already in the Vancouver-Camas-Washougal area. Their model now for expansion is to drop in a processing plant/distribution center and open four or five locations at the same time within 50 miles to get off the ground then fill in the local market over the next 24 months. Then they go for more distance, secondary markets that the plant can serve. They will service any area that is a 6 hour or less drive from the plant which is how they ensure freshness. If they drop a plant into the area just north of Vancouver they could service hundreds of restaurants throughout all of Washington and Oregon plus get into Idaho. My prediction is that they open the first stores in 2023 and will stick to the Portland area then go north to Seattle. Lots of great locations on I-5 along the way.

Shake Shack is just getting started in Beaverton too. Between In-N-Out and Shake Shack I think they're going to easily wipe Burgerville off the map in just a few short years. Shake Shack is what Burgerville claims to be - high quality grass fed beef, organic produce, fresh ingredients - and it is actually cooked to order. I prefer In-N-Out but they're both great alternatives to the dingy, poorly run pathetic excuse for a restaurant that Burgerville has become.
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Re: Unionization of restaurant employees

Post by Brian Lutz »

Expansion of In-N-Out is probably a topic for another thread, but I'm guessing that when the first one makes it to Seattle it's going to make the frenzy over the first Chick-Fil-A stores in the area look tame in comparison. Then again, Seattle also has Dick's, which has long held a reputation for its treatment of employees, offering unusually high wages for fast food (although a lot of places here are now having to offer similar wages just to keep the lights on) and other benefits like college tuition assistance. They are also slowly but gradually expanding throughout the Seattle metro area, having just last week opened a new Bellevue location. I don't think they would directly compete with In-N-Out, but I think they would be able to coexist pretty well.
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Re: Unionization of restaurant employees

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: December 21st, 2021, 12:10 pm

My trip last month was enough for Burgerville. The prices have skyrocketed under this union. The dining room was closed and looked like tables had become a new stock room area. I wanted to try it and see if it was as good as it used to be - and basically got what looked and tasted like a Burger King Whopper with half the meat for something around $8, plus a microscopic amount of fries for over $3. I'm not kidding when I say that the big flat piece of meat was barely thicker than a slice of bologna. I didn't see that this food was any fresher or any better than Burger King. No ketchup was in the bag either after they asked me what sauces I wanted, and of course the only way to correct would be to go through the drive thru again. And one napkin for an order for two people. Clearly these unionized workers love their job and take pride in their work and service to the customer. Last time I visit Burgerville. Their focus on supposedly quality ingredients is pointless when the burgers clearly are cooked hours in advance and microwaved to order.

Burgerville supposedly uses higher quality/locally sourced raw materials for the food. But that means nothing when they can't serve a hot and fresh product. I have had some successful meals with them and quite a few lukewarm meals. Every meal, I feel like I overpaid for what I received. Most recent trip to OR, I skipped them entirely since every location I attempted to go to was drive through only. Had no problem walking into a Popeyes, Wendys, Taco Time, or McDonalds that trip. The McDonalds may have been to go only but the others were fully operating. Meanwhile nearby Burgerville units are drive through only and look half out of business. As a small regional chain with higher than average pricing they should be able to fully open.

I have a real problem with this drive through only thing but just about every chain has multiple franchisees doing this for one excuse reason or another (something about labor shortages... this has been going on long enough these chains need to figure out how to operate at least to go or even run an app pick up inside thing like KFC is doing to reduce the drive through lines/speed up the pick up process). I think they are enjoying how much cheaper it is to just run the drive through even if they lose customers in the process. I know one chain who I've never seen be "drive through only" - that is In N Out.
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Re: Unionization of restaurant employees

Post by ClownLoach »

storewanderer wrote: December 22nd, 2021, 12:15 am
ClownLoach wrote: December 21st, 2021, 12:10 pm

My trip last month was enough for Burgerville. The prices have skyrocketed under this union. The dining room was closed and looked like tables had become a new stock room area. I wanted to try it and see if it was as good as it used to be - and basically got what looked and tasted like a Burger King Whopper with half the meat for something around $8, plus a microscopic amount of fries for over $3. I'm not kidding when I say that the big flat piece of meat was barely thicker than a slice of bologna. I didn't see that this food was any fresher or any better than Burger King. No ketchup was in the bag either after they asked me what sauces I wanted, and of course the only way to correct would be to go through the drive thru again. And one napkin for an order for two people. Clearly these unionized workers love their job and take pride in their work and service to the customer. Last time I visit Burgerville. Their focus on supposedly quality ingredients is pointless when the burgers clearly are cooked hours in advance and microwaved to order.

Burgerville supposedly uses higher quality/locally sourced raw materials for the food. But that means nothing when they can't serve a hot and fresh product. I have had some successful meals with them and quite a few lukewarm meals. Every meal, I feel like I overpaid for what I received. Most recent trip to OR, I skipped them entirely since every location I attempted to go to was drive through only. Had no problem walking into a Popeyes, Wendys, Taco Time, or McDonalds that trip. The McDonalds may have been to go only but the others were fully operating. Meanwhile nearby Burgerville units are drive through only and look half out of business. As a small regional chain with higher than average pricing they should be able to fully open.

I have a real problem with this drive through only thing but just about every chain has multiple franchisees doing this for one excuse reason or another (something about labor shortages... this has been going on long enough these chains need to figure out how to operate at least to go or even run an app pick up inside thing like KFC is doing to reduce the drive through lines/speed up the pick up process). I think they are enjoying how much cheaper it is to just run the drive through even if they lose customers in the process. I know one chain who I've never seen be "drive through only" - that is In N Out.
The fact is that there are too many people who are doing what Burgerville claims to have pioneered, the grass fed organic beef, organic fresh produce, etc. And they can serve it hot, fresh, and in a appealing portion size for less than Burgerville is charging. Shake Shack can manage to serve two thick parties on a double hamburger for the same price as this sliver of microwaved stale dry meat I was served by Burgerville.

The location I visited last month definitely was not serving the advertised Tillamook cheese on the burger I ordered, it was gummy cheap American cheese, the sauce had a chemical taste and clearly had high fructose corn syrup in it due to cloying sweet aftertaste, and it was the exact identical bun to Burger King which probably means it is full of sugar and preservatives to keep it shelf stable (the sugar is for browning when toasted otherwise this highly preserved stuff pretty well stays intact for decades).

The labor shortage piece doesn't add up with Burgerville if they're supposedly paying much more with benefits as a unionized business now. The suspect food products make me think they're struggling with paying the high priced organic and local vendors so they are quietly substituting low quality generic Sysco foods and charging premium pricing for it. It makes me wonder if the real reason they don't want customers in the restaurant is that they are afraid they will see the boxes of suspect quality foods and possibly the microwaved to order cooking process that has now been implemented. Can't see this from your car window.
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Re: Unionization of restaurant employees

Post by jamcool »

In-N-Out still has a bunch of sites that are drive thru/outdoor seating only
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Re: Unionization of restaurant employees

Post by Super S »

ClownLoach wrote: December 22nd, 2021, 11:07 am
storewanderer wrote: December 22nd, 2021, 12:15 am
ClownLoach wrote: December 21st, 2021, 12:10 pm

My trip last month was enough for Burgerville. The prices have skyrocketed under this union. The dining room was closed and looked like tables had become a new stock room area. I wanted to try it and see if it was as good as it used to be - and basically got what looked and tasted like a Burger King Whopper with half the meat for something around $8, plus a microscopic amount of fries for over $3. I'm not kidding when I say that the big flat piece of meat was barely thicker than a slice of bologna. I didn't see that this food was any fresher or any better than Burger King. No ketchup was in the bag either after they asked me what sauces I wanted, and of course the only way to correct would be to go through the drive thru again. And one napkin for an order for two people. Clearly these unionized workers love their job and take pride in their work and service to the customer. Last time I visit Burgerville. Their focus on supposedly quality ingredients is pointless when the burgers clearly are cooked hours in advance and microwaved to order.

Burgerville supposedly uses higher quality/locally sourced raw materials for the food. But that means nothing when they can't serve a hot and fresh product. I have had some successful meals with them and quite a few lukewarm meals. Every meal, I feel like I overpaid for what I received. Most recent trip to OR, I skipped them entirely since every location I attempted to go to was drive through only. Had no problem walking into a Popeyes, Wendys, Taco Time, or McDonalds that trip. The McDonalds may have been to go only but the others were fully operating. Meanwhile nearby Burgerville units are drive through only and look half out of business. As a small regional chain with higher than average pricing they should be able to fully open.

I have a real problem with this drive through only thing but just about every chain has multiple franchisees doing this for one excuse reason or another (something about labor shortages... this has been going on long enough these chains need to figure out how to operate at least to go or even run an app pick up inside thing like KFC is doing to reduce the drive through lines/speed up the pick up process). I think they are enjoying how much cheaper it is to just run the drive through even if they lose customers in the process. I know one chain who I've never seen be "drive through only" - that is In N Out.
The fact is that there are too many people who are doing what Burgerville claims to have pioneered, the grass fed organic beef, organic fresh produce, etc. And they can serve it hot, fresh, and in a appealing portion size for less than Burgerville is charging. Shake Shack can manage to serve two thick parties on a double hamburger for the same price as this sliver of microwaved stale dry meat I was served by Burgerville.

The location I visited last month definitely was not serving the advertised Tillamook cheese on the burger I ordered, it was gummy cheap American cheese, the sauce had a chemical taste and clearly had high fructose corn syrup in it due to cloying sweet aftertaste, and it was the exact identical bun to Burger King which probably means it is full of sugar and preservatives to keep it shelf stable (the sugar is for browning when toasted otherwise this highly preserved stuff pretty well stays intact for decades).

The labor shortage piece doesn't add up with Burgerville if they're supposedly paying much more with benefits as a unionized business now. The suspect food products make me think they're struggling with paying the high priced organic and local vendors so they are quietly substituting low quality generic Sysco foods and charging premium pricing for it. It makes me wonder if the real reason they don't want customers in the restaurant is that they are afraid they will see the boxes of suspect quality foods and possibly the microwaved to order cooking process that has now been implemented. Can't see this from your car window.
About 15 years ago there was a Burgerville near where I used to work that I went to regularly that did everything right and had no issues with. I can't say the same about other locations. Once (3-4 years ago) I ordered a sundae that was made as I ordered, ten minutes later when I finally arrived at the drive thru window they tried to hand the half melted sundae to me, and I complained that it was half melted. They did re-make it and scolded me saying I should have went inside to get it faster so it wouldn't melt. Another time I ordered a Tillamook cheeseburger, plain, because I have food allergies. the location piled everything on. I handed it back and watched as they scraped it off and tried handing it back to me...I demanded they re-make the burger, they replied that it costs money, I then raised my voice and said it's not my fault you screwed up. I ended up just getting a refund at that point. And then there was the last time I ordered fish & chips, which used to be good, and the pieces of cod were smaller than Chicken McNuggets at McDonalds. (The Halibut was too expensive) Burgerville is too inconsistent from one location to the next, and is just as bad if not worse than Subway in my opinion. Union or not, the chain is not what it used to be. I expect better at their price point.
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Re: Unionization of restaurant employees

Post by submariner »

Reminder to keep this on topic, Please feel free to start new topics for new discussions!
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Re: Unionization of restaurant employees

Post by Brian Lutz »

https://komonews.com/news/business/star ... west-coast

A Starbucks in Seattle has now voted to unionize. 6 other locations in Seattle (including their Reserve Roastery) are in the process of filing paperwork to unionize as well.
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