The Burgerville at the Center of Last Fall’s Button Ban Controversy Unionizes | Eater Portland

"At the Montavilla Burgerville, I saw employees win a 15-to-9 vote to join the company’s growing union, making it part of the country’s first federally recognized fast-food union and giving workers tied to last fall’s button controversy a seat at the bargaining table. Leading up to the election, staff reported “anti-union propaganda everywhere,” citing daily anti-union emails from HR. The location was also the site of earlier conflict when several employees were dismissed for wearing buttons with messages like “Abolish ICE,” prompting months of disputes over the chain’s button policy and free-speech rights; the company briefly rescinded the ban and paid back wages but then reinstated a button ban, which spurred workers to strike." - Brooke Jackson-Glidden