Workers say they’re organizing to improve workplace conditions, get better pay and have union protections
Workers at the Potbelly sandwich shop on Southwest Sixth Avenue delivered paperwork to management requesting voluntary recognition of their union, Portland Restaurant Workers, Jan. 11. Workers said they’re organizing to improve workplace conditions, get better pay and have union protections.
AFURI Ramen workers formed Portland Restaurant Workers, or PRW, an independent union working to grow union organization in Portland’s food industry, last month. Potbelly workers are the second bargaining unit to join the new union.
When workers began organizing, they looked to Burgerville Workers Union organizer Mark Medina for help because of his reputation for working on the VooDoo Doughnuts campaign and his recent work with PRW. Workers chose to organize with PRW partially out of necessity.
“We knew that unions make the workplace better, but it was formed straight out of necessity,” Paulina, a Potbelly worker, said.
The independence PRW offered was also a selling factor.
“It's nice to have a bit more autonomy,” Sam Lawson, another Potbelly worker, said. “Since we know this workplace best, we can set our own rules and negotiate on our own behalf.”
Disrespect from management
Workers at the downtown location of the fast-casual sandwich shop said they are organizing partly because management disrespects them.
“There's been a lot of disrespect shown by management and overall carelessness,” Paulina said. “There's also, I think, aside from the structural issues of the managers not being properly trained, there's also a lot of pettiness, and when you're trying to ask about issues or trying to solve problems with them or just communicate overall, they make it very personal.
“You kind of have to wait for them to be in a certain mood, and that's just not the way that things should be run.”
The workers said they hope to bargain for better pay, but treatment by managers is their primary concern.
"I think that's the biggest draw of the union for me is that
if you don't have (a union), it's really just you against your employer."
– Sam Lawson, Potbelly worker
“There's obviously always room for pay increases and different complaints like that, but the disrespect coming from management is the initial thing that brought us together on this,” Paulina said.
Lawson said the work conditions are impacting their life when they punch out.
“I just want to be able to leave work and not still think about it,” Lawson said. “I want to be able to have life happen.”
Workers began organizing in September after Paulina said management offered her a promotion and a raise. The problem, according to Paulina, is the raise still wouldn’t place her at the wage other workers with the same position made.
When she tried to bargain for a better deal, Paulina said management turned her away. After taking the issue to a higher level of management, Paulina said she was told the raise was an issue between her and lower-level management. Eventually, she was offered a raise placing her between the wages in the initial offer and the wages other employees make in the same position.
Paulina said she felt the low raise offer was personal. Union protections, however, could create standardized wage scales for positions.
“The way that some of the managers treat some people who are less or more dependent on the job is so starkly different from everyone else,” she said.
Potbelly management declined Street Roots’ requests for comment for this story.
Anti-labor activity
Workers said management often doesn’t follow company policy or state labor laws.
“It turns out there's a lot of either company policies or just flat-out laws that they have not been following,” Lawson said. “And as soon as they heard that there were talks of unionization, they've scrambled.”
According to workers, management’s reaction to the union activity has been two-fold: tightening up adherence to corporate policy and state labor laws and holding an anti-union meeting.
Before organizing, workers said the company often dodged state labor laws around time off and full-time benefits. When workers tried to call in sick, workers said management shamed them into coming in anyway.
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“Pretty much everybody who works here gets sick because everybody who called out was more or less shamed into coming in,” Lawson said.
Paulina said management’s push for sick workers to come in was more explicit than that.
“It was outright saying you have to come in,” she said. “If you can't find coverage … then you have to come in.”
Workers also say management neglected to inform workers of company policy about “premium pay.” While Lawson said company policy states workers should get premium pay for clocking in early or staying late, Lawson said the company was neither paying workers premium pay nor notifying them they qualified for the benefit, despite routinely asking employees to work additional non-scheduled hours.
“And none of us were aware that those were even available,” Lawson said. “It's too little too late. And we know that if we don't hold them to it, they can just take it away.”
Shortly after the workers began organizing, Lawson said two corporate employees flew into the location to speak to workers about why a union wasn’t the right choice for them.
“It was basically the typical corporate like, ‘We don't think your union is the right choice, and we want to listen to you and be on your side, and we really care about hearing from you,’” Lawson said.
Union strong
Workers delivered a letter to management requesting voluntary recognition of the union alongside workers from fellow-Portland independent union workers at VooDoo Doughnuts, New Seasons, Starbucks, AFURI Ramen and representatives from the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter.
The community support is encouraging and is an added protection against retaliation, Lawson said. They hope the show of support can persuade hesitant workers.
“It's important to know that everybody that works here has each other's backs,” Lawson said. “I think that's the biggest draw of the union for me is that if you don't have (a union), it's really just you against your employer. Since we have the support of the community like this, everyone's aware of what's happening, and there's legal repercussions to them retaliating or anything along those lines, and we're all paying attention, and we all genuinely care about each other's well-being.
“We're not trying to hang anybody off to dry just because they're hesitant or they aren't as on board.”
After delivering the letter, Lawson said they are taking it “one day at a time” and don’t have a clear timeline for filing with the National Labor Relations Board. Should management reject their offer, Lawson said they will seek an election to prove the union’s validity.
“Obviously, if they don't volunteer to recognize us, then next up is the vote,” Lawson said.
According to Lawson and Paulina, support for the union is close to 90%.
“Oh, we've got everybody,” Paulina said. “Yeah, we're gonna win.”
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