Posts tagged San Francisco
Beyond Unionizing: Strippers Run the Show in a Worker Cooperative
March 15, 2024 // Worker co-ops are not as popular in the U.S. as they are in other countries, but they are on the rise. According to the Democracy at Work Institute’s 2021 Worker Cooperative State of the Sector Report, from 2019 to 2021, U.S. co-ops grew 30%, and there are about 10,000 in the country. There is precedent for this – the Lusty Lady was a peep show in San Francisco that unionized in the 90s, became a worker-owned cooperative in 2003, and closed in 2013.
VIDEO: Union boss punched in the face after annoying siren deployed during protest
March 12, 2024 // A fight broke out on a picket line last week in front of a downtown federal office building when striking custodians accused a woman of punching a union leader. The altercation happened in front of a federal government office building at 630 Sansome St., where janitors employed there have been on strike since last week. The custodians, who are members of Service Employees International Union Local 87, said the skirmish took place around 7 p.m. on Wednesday after the woman, an employee who works in the building, came out and confronted the striking janitors for playing a loud siren from a bullhorn.
US unions target the housing affordability crisis as their ‘biggest issue’
February 20, 2024 // Organized labor across the country is now setting its sights on housing costs as rents and mortgages continue to soar
OPINION: The SEIU’s fake fast food union
February 12, 2024 // Struggling at the national level, the union turned to its legislative allies in California. It worked for several years to enact the so-called “Fast Recovery Act,” a scheme to create a new council that would regulate wages and working conditions for fast-food workers. The idea: Save the union the unproductive hassle of signing up new workers, and instead make all of them subject to a union-controlled government board. Though it took the union two legislative sessions to pass it, over fierce resistance from restaurants, it eventually got to the Governor’s desk in 2022. He signed it on Labor Day that year.
City Lights Workers Establish a Union
January 30, 2024 // At City Lights, Toledo cited “strikingly low pay, despite working at one of the most famous independent bookstores in the world,” as well as “no grievance process of any kind.” She noted that “the overwhelming majority of us, if not all of us, are low income in one of the most expensive parts of California and have housing situations to reflect it.” Some bookselling hires come on board at San Francisco’s minimum wage, which is presently $18.07/hour, although others with additional responsibilities—Toledo was hired to be in charge of consignment—earn slightly more. Toledo also expressed concern that there is “a total dearth of communication surrounding the direction of the publishing part of City Lights.” Union staffers see a need for greater transparency between the company's bookselling and publishing sides. “We have had a busy year for the store, and some of the newer titles from publishing are doing quite well,” Toledo said. City Lights, which celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2023, is known as a bastion of radical literature, free speech activism, and social justice, although its staffers have not until now been unionized.
Planned Parenthood Northern California workers move to unionize
January 25, 2024 // Planned Parenthood Northern California workers announced their unionization efforts today at all of the nonprofit’s 18 regional locations, including a San Francisco health center at 1522 Bush St. A “supermajority” of the organization’s hundreds of clinicians, nurses, social workers, administrative and support staff voiced their support for the forthcoming union, PPNorCal United, through union authorization cards, according to Service Employees International Union Local 1021, which PPNorCal United intends to join. Chelsea Fink, a communications specialist with SEIU 1021, said the union drive grew rapidly over the past two months, fueled by the short staffing and scheduling issues that have plagued Planned Parenthood since the Supreme Court ended federal protections for abortion rights in June 2022.
Will San Francisco Unions Go on Strike? Labor Fight Could Upend Mayor’s Race
January 16, 2024 // State Attorney General Rob Bonta, a likely candidate for California governor in 2026, mingled with guests who included top union reps for city firefighters, janitors and carpenters, along with District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and San Francisco Supervisors Shamann Walton and Ahsha Safaí. Former Mayor Willie Brown delivered remarks in his official role as San Francisco’s roastmaster general, and Daniel Lurie, a wealthy nonprofit founder who is running for mayor, also showed up to glad-hand. But one person was conspicuously absent: Mayor London Breed. While she was invited, the mayor’s appearance could have made for some awkward conversations—contracts for nearly three dozen public employee unions, not including police and firefighters, will expire this summer. Multiple labor leaders at the party said a nasty fight is brewing in San Francisco. The city is staring down a projected $800 million deficit over the next two years, meaning vacant jobs will be eliminated, contracts could be cut and services will likely diminish. Adding to the degree of difficulty in negotiations, a court ruling in 2023 has potentially opened the door for city workers to strike for the first time in more than four decades.
DHL Express workers extend picket lines across US
December 17, 2023 // The Teamsters represent more than 1,100 DHL employees who load and unload freighters at CVG, and 6,000 workers nationwide. Workers voted in April to join Teamsters Local 100 after a yearlong campaign and began collective bargaining for their first contract in July. They went on strike Dec. 7 after demands for better pay and safety conditions as well as an end to alleged union-busting activities were not met. The labor action comes at the busiest time of year for parcel carriers, who are in the final sprint of delivering online purchases and personal gift exchanges in time for the holidays. DHL brought in temporary workers and managers to pick up some of the labor slack in Cincinnati and diverted cargo jets to other gateways in its air network in an effort to maintain service schedules.
SF school district reaches memorandum of understanding with tradespeople, staving off strike
December 4, 2023 // “SFUSD and Common Crafts agreed to negotiate in good faith to address outstanding grievances, arbitrations, memorandums of understanding, and other contract negotiation-related issues,” said the school district. The district has agreed to meet with employees to negotiate salary and resolve outstanding pay issues, convene a task force to work toward completing these negotiations by Feb. 1, and will pay Common Crafts unit members a one-time, off-schedule $3,000 stipend by Friday, SFUSD officials said.
Workers at Chinese-state-owned hotel in SF on strike after foodborne illness complaints
November 15, 2023 // Workers at the Chinese-state-owned BEI Hotel in SF suffered food poisoning after the hotel "unilaterally laid off its cooks and outsourced cafeteria meals," starting in May of this year, a press release said. The BEI is a 400-room hotel owned by Beijing Tourism Group, an enterprise managed by a subsidiary of the Beijing government.