San Francisco Labor Council

https://sflaborcouncil.org/about-us/[/note] SFLC promotes left-of-center labor policies, including requiring employers to negotiate with minority unions — made up of as few as 25 percent of company employees — and preventing employers from replacing union members on strike. ² It has held many rallies in support of progressive causes such as Healthcare For All and gun control. ^{3 4}

SFLC undertakes “extensive grassroots pressure campaigns” to pass labor laws and supports progressive candidates for local and state office through its political organization, Labor Neighbor/Committee on Political Education (COPE). ⁵ COPE endorsed the 2022 City Attorney reelection campaign of David Chiu (D), who backed a successful proposal that allows illegal immigrants to vote in school board elections. ^{6 7} SFLC also hosts political events and organizes transportation to voting polls on election day. ⁸

History and Mission

San Francisco Labor Council, originally called the San Francisco Trades and Labor Council, was founded in 1892 and chartered in 1893. It merged with the AFL-CIO in 1955 and with the San Francisco Congress of Industrial Organizations’ Industrial Union Council in 1958. ⁹ In the early part of the 20th century, SFLC was a charter member of the controversial Asiatic Exclusion League, which discouraged Asian immigration due to alleged racial “inferiority.” ⁹

SFLC’s mission is to enact progressive labor legislation that grants unions power over employers. To accomplish this, SFLC engages in political and social messaging, activism, and community service. ¹⁰

Affiliations

San Francisco Labor Council lists affiliations with more than 100 organizations, including multiple chapters of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (commonly shortened to Teamsters). ^{11 12}

Other SFLC affiliates include the feminist Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), which is known for its opposition to tax cuts and progressive views on the alleged gender wage gap; and the left-of-center United Auto Workers (UAW) union, which was involved in a major scandal in the late 2010s. ^{11 13 14 15}

Union Activism

Hotel workers of the Local 2 union took to the streets in 2009 to protest proposed benefit reductions. Boycotts and protests were primarily targeted towards large chain hotels, particularly Hilton and others owned by Blackstone Group. ¹⁶ Carl Finamore, a delegate to the San Francisco Labor Council, cited the city’s hospitality workers’ union to claim that Blackstone’s CEO was paid nearly $1.4 billion in 2008, and cited the local hotel worker’s average salary of $30,000 for comparison. Finamore supported city unions organizing among themselves to pressure employers into accepting union demands and said that it could “potentially shift the balance towards employees.” ¹⁶ The general manager of one hotel said that benefits for his workers “had hardly been discussed” prior to the protests. ¹⁷

In 2011, SFLC opposed efforts by then-Supervisor David Campos (D) to open city garbage collection up to competition. Campos stressed the importance of getting “the best deal possible” for the city and said that competition could save the district as much as $14 million. ¹⁸ Tim Paulson, the then-executive director of SFLC, signed a rebuttal to the proposition which read, “The current system works…Why mess with such a successful system?” Critics accused the existing garbage collection company of seeking to keep the “privilege to raise our rates as much as they want,” citing a 136 percent increase in rates over the previous decade. The proposition to end the monopoly failed. ¹⁹

SFLC members took part in the 2011 Occupy San Francisco movement, which police disbanded in December of the same year. ^{20 21} In January 2012, Occupy Wall Street West began organized protests once more, armed with the support of unions. The treasurer of Occupy San Francisco criticized the unions’ involvement, expressing his belief that they were taking over the movement and changing established rules. Paulson claimed that SFLC had the right to continue involvement because “it’s our members getting thrown out of homes, it’s our members losing jobs.” ²²

The San Francisco public school system proposed a Student Success Fund ballot initiative in 2022 that aimed to redirect $60 million in taxpayer dollars towards student programs for academic success and “social-emotional services.” SFLC executive directo­­­­r Kim Tavaglione opposed the ballot initiative, claiming that the money was needed to keep workers from getting laid off in the event of a recession. ²³

Political Activism

San Francisco Labor Council opposed the 2021 attempted recall of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), whose strict pandemic policies reportedly angered many voters. ²⁴ SFLC posted a piece by the executive secretary treasurer of the California Labor Federation which accused “millionaires and billionaires” of attacking unions and “exploiting” the recall election for Republican gain. It further characterized the recall as a “sneak attack” which, if accomplished, would lead to the abolishing of progressive California labor policies. ²⁵

SFLC opposed the successful 2022 recall of far-left San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who supported left-wing criminal justice policies that allegedly contributed increases in crime. ²⁶ Victims accused Boudin of “siding with criminals” during attacks on Asian American citizens. ²⁷ According to NBC Bay Area, SFLC and other labor unions supported Boudin because he was a proponent of workers against “big, powerful employers.” ²⁶

Following the lead of other left-progressive labor unions, SFLC hoped to pass a resolution in support of the far left Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which claims that Israel “maintains a regime of ­­settler colonialism, apartheid and occupation over the Palestinian people.” ^{28 29} AFL-CIO sent SFLC a memo notifying the union that any meeting about a resolution to support BDS would violate procedures which keep local members from supporting policies opposed to those approved by AFL-CIO. ²⁸ AFL-CIO western regional director Fernando Losada told Jewish publication J. that “There’s an existing policy in solidarity with working people in the Holy Land. It does not include BDS.” ³⁰

Leadership

Kim Tavaglione has worked as the executive director of San Francisco Labor Council since 2020. She previously worked as a community political organizer and later a political director at the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW). ³¹ While with NUHW, Tavaglione also was as an executive committee member and campaign director for SFLC. According to the union’s website, Tavaglione “rebuilt” the SFLC’s political organization Labor Neighbor into its current form. ³²

Tim Paulson previously worked as executive director of SFLC from 2004 until his retirement in 2021. He began his career in 1981 as a journeyman tilesetter, where he got involved as an officer for the local tilesetters’ union. He later joined the San Francisco Building and Construction Trades Council and worked as its vice president for seven years before accepting the role of executive director of SFLC in 2004. ^{33 34}

Financials

As of 2018, SFLC had revenues of over $1.6 million, with expenses at $1.37 million and assets just over $577,000. ³⁵ It receives grants from AFL-CIO, with an amount of $40,000 in 2016 and $31,000 in 2019. ^{36 37}