Hold onto your gift cards, as the chain-store unionization movement in SF just got a shot from the Starbucks at 18th and Castro Streets, which voted to unionize in results confirmed Tuesday afternoon.

We learned to live without the Castro Starbucks, nicknamed “Bearbucks,” when it closed between last Christmas and this past April over plumbing issues. But you may want to save your Starbucks gift cards to use at that particular Starbucks at 4094 18th Street (at Castro Street), because something big has been brewing there. Just three months after two Starbucks locations in Santa Cruz became the first unionized Starbucks shops in California, SFGate reports that the Castro Starbucks has also voted to unionize.

If certified, it will be the first unionized Starbucks in San Francisco.

“We’re very proud of the results today,” James Kreiss, an employee at the Castro Starbucks. “We hope this win encourages our San Francisco sister stores to seek a union too. Staff and customers have gone through the ringer this past year with inconsistent staffing and store availability — we appreciate the support our community has shown us and the continued support as we begin the long process of negotiations with Starbucks.”

The vote was reportedly 7-2 in favor of unionizing, with 15 eligible voters, only nine of whom cast ballots, by SFGate.

The Castro District’s supervisor, Rafael Mandelman, said in a statement on Twitter, “Many congratulations to the Castro Starbucks employees on their historic vote to become San Francisco’s first unionized Starbucks store. In an era of growing income inequality, successful efforts to organize low- wage private sector workers remind us that there is still power in a union and San Francisco is still a union town.”

Many congratulations to the Castro Starbucks employees. In an era of growing income inequality, successful efforts to organize low wage private sector workers remind us that there is still power in a union and San Francisco is still a union town. Harvey would be proud. https://t.co/fWJVZxKMHG

— Rafael Mandelman (@RafaelMandelman) August 16, 2022

Starbucks has five days to challenge the vote, and if they do not, the result is automatically certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Supervisor Dean Preston, who authored a Board of Supervisors resolution in support of the effort, was obviously pleased. “It takes tremendous courage and determination to form a union, especially in a climate where too often big corporations engage in blatant union busting activity,” Preston told SFGate. “I’m proud of Starbucks employees here and across the country who are unionizing their workplaces.”

While the company has not commented on this outcome, Starbucks is obviously steamed over these unionization efforts. The chain is asking for a halt to mail-in balloting in these votes, alleging improper conduct by the NLRB. (It’s unclear if mail ballots were used in this election.) Oh, and those Santa Cruz Starbucks that unionized in May? Employees at one of them have already gone on strike.

Related: Employees at Two Santa Cruz Starbucks Locations Have Voted To Unionize [SFist]

Image: Don O. via Yelp

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Preseason No. 1 Gonzaga has climbed back to the top of The Associated Press’s men’s basketball poll, ending Baylor’s five-week run.

The Bulldogs received 25 first-place votes, 11 fewer than No. 2 Auburn, but edged out the Tigers in the total and took first place.

Auburn has its highest ranking since reaching No. 2 in 1999-2000 after moving up two places.

Arizona, Purdue and Baylor round out the top five.

A wild week full of surprises led to big changes in the AP Top 25.

Baylor saw its 21-game winning streak with back-to-back losses and 13 losing teams over the past week, including nine on Saturday.

Baylor fell four spots to No. 5, while Southern California fell 11 spots to No. 16.

BYU got some votes this week after beating San Francisco this weekend.

The Cougars remain off the top 25 list this week, but are slowly closing in on placement.

AP Top 25 Men’s College Basketball:

1. gonzaga
2. Maroon
3. Arizona
4. Purdue
5. Baylor
6. duke
7. Kansas
8. Wisconsin
9. UCLA
10. Houston
11. Villanova
12. Kentucky
13. LSU
14. michigan st
15. iowa st
16. southern cal
17. Illinois
18. texas tech
19. ohio st
20. xavier
21. providence
22. Loyola Chicago
23. Texas
24. Tennessee
25. UConn

Others receiving votes: Iowa 56, BYU 50, Davidson 34, Alabama 26, San Diego St. 25, Miami 21, Oregon 15, West Virginia 14, Colorado St. 13, Texas A&M 10, Oklahoma 7, TCU 4, North Carolina 2, Indiana 2.

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The decision San Francisco Schools Board to replace the names of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and other prominent historical figures from dozens of public schools is opposed by local residents, officials, and advocacy groups.

The San Francisco Board of Education voted 6-1 on Tuesday for a resolution calling for the removal of the names of those “who have participated in the submission and enslavement of people; or oppressed women and stunted social progress; or whose actions resulted in genocide; or who have otherwise severely restricted the chances of those of us having the right to life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness, ”said the text the dissolution.

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The renaming process was led by a committee formed in 2018 to investigate the names of schools amid a national reckoning of races that followed the deadly white supremist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Schools to be renamed include Abraham Lincoln High School, George Washington High School, Dianne Feinstein Elementary, Roosevelt Middle School, Jefferson Elementary, and Alamo Elementary.

While Washington and Thomas Jefferson were chosen for being slave owners, Lincoln, best known for leading the US to defeat the Confederation and take action to abolish slavery, was named because of him reported Treatment of Native Americans.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) Name is on the list after the former San Francisco mayor allegedly ordered the replacement of a Confederate flag after it was demolished. the Sacramento Bee reports.

“This is an opportunity for our students to learn about the history of the names of our school, including potential new ones,” said Executive Chairwoman Gabriela López in a statement. “That resolution got into the school board after the attacks in Charlottesville, and we’re working with the rest of the country to dismantle symbols of racism and white supremacy. I’m curious to see what ideas the schools will come up with. ”

Schools have until April to propose new names that the board will vote on.

But the move has sparked criticism for a variety of reasons.

“This is a little joke. It’s almost like a parody of left activism, ”said Gerald Kanapathy, father of a kindergarten child at a school in San Francisco that is not on the list to be renamed The Associated Press.

Lope Yap Jr., vice president of the Alumni Association of George Washington High School in San Francisco, opposed the board’s decision.

“We believe that politics, whether socialist, conservative or independent, if you honor the truth in history, must be put aside,” said Yap The New York Post. “We don’t want to delete anything.”

“They forget that abolitionists praised Abraham Lincoln,” he told the point of sale.

After the vote, the Mayor of San Francisco, London Breed (D), slammed the decision and questioned the board’s priorities.

“I understand the meaning of the name of a school, and the name of a school should evoke a sense of pride in every student who walks through its doors, regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation,” Breed said in a statement.

“What I can’t understand is why the school board is putting forward a plan to have all of these schools renamed by April if there isn’t a plan to have our children back in the classroom by then,” she said, as the schools always do are still closed due to the corona pandemic.

Now more than 9,000 People signed an online petition urging school boards to “stop wasting time and money renaming schools and focus on educating our children”.

Interest group families also for San Francisco on the other hand and said it was a top-down process where the board made the decision without properly consulting experts and the wider community.

The San Francisco Board of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Changing America.

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SACRAMENTO (AP / CBS SF) – Joe Biden won California and its 55 votes on Tuesday, adding to the Democratic hold on the nation’s most populous state.

California has voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election since 1992. Four years ago, Hillary Clinton surpassed Donald Trump with more than 4 million votes. The President’s trips to California during the campaign were mostly fundraising.

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“If we continue under this administration, America will be a lost cause. We’re going to lose hope, ”said Harry Rochester, 40, a San Francisco nurse who voted for Biden.

The election came under the influence of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 17,600 people in the state to date, including Alameda County’s Deputy Sheriff Oscar Rocha in July. His widow Maureen Ennor-Rocha cast her vote for Trump on Tuesday.

“This is my first election day without him so I think this might be part of my fear,” she said. “We fly the blue line flag, we believe in the protection of our police.”

Biden’s runner-up, US Senator Kamala Harris of California, made history as the first black woman to be nominated as vice president of a major political party. She is also the first California Democrat to appear on a major party presidential ticket.

It’s been decades since the Republicans were the dominant party in California. As of 1952, the GOP won nine out of ten presidential elections and the state helped send Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan to the White House.

But when Bill Clinton defeated President George HW Bush in 1992, a streak began that has now achieved eight direct victories for the Democrats, including Biden.

California Republicans were more focused on winning back some seats in the US House of Representatives after a string of losses two years ago. This included four districts that either wholly or partially contained Orange County, a former Republican stronghold. The Republicans only hold seven of the state’s 53 residences.

One of the toughest competitions is the 25th borough north of Los Angeles, where GOP MP Mike Garcia is trying again to stop Democrat Christy Smith after beating her for a seat in a special election in May due to the Democrat’s resignation Katie Hill was left open amid a home ethic probe of sexual misconduct. Also the 21st district in the Central Valley where former Republican MP David Valadao seeks to reclaim his seat from Democratic MP TJ Cox, who defeated Valadao by 862 votes in 2018.

Republican Darrell Issa has moved to a neighboring district to try to get back into the US home. The former longtime congressman stepped down in 2018 and now works in the 50th district primarily in San Diego County. The seat was left open when GOP MP Duncan Hunter pleaded guilty to a corruption charge and resigned.

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Most of the seats in the Bay Area House up for re-election on Tuesday evening were found by Democratic incumbents, who were at the top by a wide margin. San Francisco House Representative and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Oakland Representative Barbara Lee, Contra Costa County Representative Mark DeSaulnier, San Francisco / San Mateo Representative Jackie Speier, and San Jose Representatives, Ro Khanna and Zoe Lofgren, all of their races dominated from 77 percent to over 90 percent of the vote.

Anna Eshoo, another South Bay representative, led her Democratic rival Rishi Kumar by almost 67 to 33 percent.

Meanwhile, voters pondered a dozen statewide polls that could revamp property tax formulas, lift a ban on positive action, and redefine the billion-dollar business models of hail shipping companies Uber and Lyft.

The most expensive campaign involved an intense battle between companies and working groups over the future of app-based hail and delivery companies.

At stake is a 2019 law requiring companies like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash to treat their drivers as employees in order to guarantee them benefits like overtime, sick leave and reimbursement. The companies signed Proposition 22 to try to maintain their business model of treating drivers as independent contractors.

The companies raised around $ 200 million to campaign for the measure, while the unions raised more than $ 20 million to fight it. A state appeals court has ruled that Uber and Lyft must comply with the law, which likely makes Proposition 22 their last hope.

Voters will also choose whether to increase business tax by up to $ 12.5 billion a year by triggering a new valuation every three years, with a few exceptions for smaller businesses.

Supporters have framed the debate to increase funding for schools and local governments that rely primarily on property taxes to pay for their services. Opponents have condemned the proposal as a tax hike to cut jobs amid a pandemic-triggered economic downturn.

One of the more emotional measures on the ballot is Proposition 16, which would end the state’s ban on positive action programs for hiring, contracting and admission to public colleges and universities. The democratically controlled legislature of the state put this on the ballot this year. She believed the racial justice protests since the assassination of George Floyd in Minneapolis was the right time to end the ban.

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