On March 13th, 2019, employees at the historic Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco voted themselves into a union. When the secret ballot vote was tallied, the union had been adopted by a 31 to 16 margin.
“We won two to one; a clear majority,” said Brian Witte, who has worked at Anchor Brewing Co. for five and a half years. He work in the Fermentation Department and is happy the effort is over. “I’m hopeful we can all work together,” he added. “We love our fellow employees. We want everyone to have better working conditions.”
Three of the organizers, Chris Christensen of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), Anchor employee Garrett Kelley and Augustin Ramirez of the ILWU, seen in the photo below, were all smiles across the street from the iconic brewery right after the results were announced.
There’s still another workplace to be heard from. The nine employees at Anchor Public Taps, the affiliated watering-hole across the street from the brewery, will vote Friday afternoon on whether they want to follow suit and be represented by the union.
For details on the motivations and the organizing effort, check out our recent story, Stormy Waters At Anchor Brewing.
Beer by BART 