Burgerville Workers Fight and Win Co-Worker’s Job Back

Report from the Burgerville Workers Union of the IWW who recently fought and won the rehiring of a co-worker.

Meet Brookelynn, a longtime Burgerville worker at the Gladstone store and a strong union supporter. She worked at Burgerville for two years before leaving the job in December for family reasons. Brookelynn reapplied shortly afterwards, much to everyone’s excitement, and it’s even Burgerville policy to rehire workers who reapply within three months of quitting

Because of how strong a union supporter she is, however, Burgerville refused to rehire her, violating their own policy. The General Manager, Michael Dawson, hired at least ten other people while Brookelynn kept reapplying, discriminating against her over and over again for her union membership. Meanwhile, Burgerville has spent thousands and thousands of dollars on ads claiming to value their employees and that they do not intimidate or retaliate against workers for being part of the union.

After months of fighting, Brookelynn and the union finally won her job back! She returned to work today and everyone is thrilled. Furthermore, the National Labor Relations Board found merit in Brookelynn’s charges of anti-union discrimination, which means Burgerville will likely face legal consequences for their union busting activity.

We’re excited about the ongoing contract negotiations, but this just goes to show how important it is to keep fighting outside the bargaining room as well.

Welcome back, Brookelynn! When we fight, we win!