Ever wonder how San Francisco got so union-strong in the first place? To learn the answer, we must look to the militant tenacity of our union forebears and their absolute commitment to the cause of organized labor to see what clinched the city as a workers’ town.
Apprentices and veterans are highly valued in San Francisco’s building trades locals, and some members fall into both categories. November marked Veterans Day, which fell on the 11th, and National Apprenticeship Week, which ran the 15th through the 21st.
San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church, in partnership with the Conservatory of Music, the SF Building Trades, Swinerton Builders, and Carpenters Local 22, have kicked off a community project to complete renovations and make improvements to the historic church’s music department at 1399 McAllister Street.
San Francisco building trades locals are working to ensure apprentices and members remain safe for in-person training and labs. New measures include hybrid classes, fewer students for in-person work, frequent sanitization of tools and classrooms, and temperature checks and self-assessment questions prior to entry.
Many of the bills sponsored or supported by the State Building Trades Council of California (SBCTC) have recently passed the California state legislature and were signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in September and early October.
After renting space at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 104 office in Duboce Triangle for many years, three unions — Glaziers Local 718, Floor Coverers Local 12, and Painters Local 913 — have scored themselves a permanent home in San Francisco that’s slated for occupancy in the second quarter of 2022.
Cal/OSHA requires unvaccinated workers to wear facemasks indoors. Outdoors, employees are not required to wear masks regardless of vaccination status. (The exception is when there’s a COVID-19 outbreak.)
Work is progressing on the all-union project to house formerly homeless and low-income San Franciscans at 53 Colton Street.
