03/12/2026
From a profile of SF labor leaders published in the Standard today: "Bravewoman takes union representation so personally that she only recently started eating grapes. Growing up in Santa Cruz, her family joined a grape boycott to support the United Farm Workers’ fight for fair wages. A City College math teacher, the AFT 2121 president successfully campaigned to replace the school’s board trustees who voted to lay off educators. More union-friendly trustees now sit on the board. Unlike some union leaders, Bravewoman still works her day job but is paid ‘release time’ for her union work. She hasn’t always had electoral success: She allied AFT 2121 with SEIU 1021 to float Proposition O in 2022 to fund student workforce development classes through a parcel tax; the ballot measure failed. ‘We worked really hard. It was an opportunity for SEIU 1021 and AFT to come together,’ she said. But other influences, including the landlord lobby, spent a boatload of money that ‘we weren’t able to beat.’ Her local will have its hands full in November, as the union vies to elect candidates to four seats on the college board and support legislative aide Natalie Gee in her race for supervisor. ‘We’ve got folks out there who’ve been door-knocking,’ she said. Gee is running against incumbent Supervisor Alan Wong, a former college board trustee. No love lost there." Read the rest of the article here:
Their names and faces are unknown to many San Franciscans, but they craft law, elect politicians, and run city-shattering strikes. Here’s The Standard’s definitive power list of the city’s union influencers.
