San Francisco, CA
SF claims homeless individuals decline shelter 60% of the time but some say that’s inaccurate
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco Mayor London Breed is reporting that in November 60 percent of the time when the city’s Street Outreach team offered shelter to homeless individuals they were rejected.
ABC7 News reporter Luz Pena went to the Tenderloin where some disagreed with the claim and wanted the city to do more.
In San Francisco’s Tenderloin, we met Jimmy Thomas. He’s been homeless for two years. Thomas and others have turned two tents on Turk Street into a shared home where at least 10 people sleep every week.
VIDEO: A look at SF’s struggle to clear homeless encampments as hundreds wait for shelters
As demand grows, waitlists for San Francisco’s housing and emergency shelters for individuals experiencing homelessness get longer.
“We all take turns sleeping in a tent. It’s a lot more of us too. We come and go,” said Thomas.
Mayor Breed said city data shows that in November, 60 percent of the time unhoused individuals were offered shelter they refused to accept help and move indoors.
Pena: “Have you been offered shelter out here?”
Thomas: “No, no. I’ve been looking for shelter and housing because I’ve been trying to find resources.”
The mayor went on to expand on city data saying, in October, shelter was refused in 65 percent of the encounters. In September, 60 percent.
VIDEO: Where did SF’s homeless population go during APEC? Here’s what we uncovered
Where did San Francisco’s homeless go during the APEC summit? Here’s what we uncovered.
Sam Dodge, is the Director of SF Street Response team. They go out twice a day to the city’s homeless hot spots offering shelter and keep track of who rejects it.
“Right now we have more shelter available than ever in the history of San Francisco. We have over 3,000 shelter beds available every night,” said Dodge.
Pena: “If you have so much shelter why are people still out here?”
Dodge: “We have a lot of shelter but we have more people that are homeless than we have shelter beds. That is a reality. “
During our town hall ABC7 Take Action San Francisco, Mayor Breed blamed the homeless crisis in part on a lawsuit by the Coalition on Homeless.
TAKE ACTION SF: Mayor, city leaders to answer questions about future of city
“After the Ninth Circuit court decision happened and there was clarity from that case, because we were not able to move people the way that we are able to move people now, so we offer someone shelter or any type of housing so they are no longer involuntarily homeless. What we are doing is being as aggressive as we can to get people off the streets and get them an ultimatum,” said Mayor Breed.
Jennifer Friedenbach, Executive Director for the Coalition on Homelessness disagrees with the latest numbers.
“The overwhelming majority of people that the mayor is saying are refusing shelter they actually did not have a shelter bed for them. The other folks is because it’s not accessible from a disability perspective. It is not the correct gender. Someone has a severe mental health illness,” said Friedenbach.
The city’s outreach team confirmed that when people are offered a type of shelter they don’t want they are counted as rejecting shelter that day.
“Every time we do an encampment abatement operation we bring more than enough shelter beds so that everyone has a shelter option. It’s legally and morally right that we have that when we are engaging people,” said Dodge.
Smiley has been homeless for six years and has refused shelter in the past.
“I don’t do shelters. I’ve heard too many horror stories of people going into shelters. So, I just choose not to go,” said Smiley.
Despite the city saying they have the highest number of shelter beds available, currently, there are 436 people on the shelter waitlist.
If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco hotel workers agree pay rise after 3-month strike
What’s New
Hilton hotel workers in San Francisco voted on Christmas Eve to approve a new union contract after a 93-day strike, according to the Unite Here Local 2 union.
The union, which represents about 15,000 workers in the region, announced that the deal settles the last of the city’s 2024 hotel strikes, covering approximately 900 Hilton workers.
Newsweek has contacted Unite Here Local 2 and Hilton via email for comment.
Why It Matters
The new contracts after this year’s strikes establish significant improvements in wages, health care and workload protections for workers at Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott-operated hotels.
The agreements conclude months of labor unrest that involved thousands of workers and disrupted San Francisco’s hotel industry.
What To Know
Hilton workers voted 99.4 percent in favor of the agreement on Christmas Eve, which includes a $3 per hour immediate wage increase, additional raises, and protections against understaffing and increased workloads.
The four-year contract preserves affordable union health insurance and provides pension increases. The deal covers workers at Hilton San Francisco Union Square and Parc 55, with 650 workers having actively participated in the strike.
This agreement follows similar contracts reached with Hyatt workers on Friday and Marriott workers last Thursday, covering a total of 2,500 workers who had been on strike since late September.
What People Are Saying
Bill Fung, a housekeeping attendant at Hilton San Francisco Union Square for 29 years, said: “These 93 days have not been easy, and I’m so proud that my coworkers and I never gave up. We stood together through the rain and cold, and even though there were some hard days, it was all worth it. We will go back to work with our health care, good raises, and the confidence of knowing that when we fight, we win.”
Lizzy Tapia, President of Unite Here Local 2, said: “Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott workers refused to give up their health care or go backwards – and we proved on the picket line that we’re not afraid of a tough fight. As contract talks begin with the city’s other full-service hotels in the new year, they should know that this is the new standard they must accept for their own employees.”
San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie said on X: “All those that have been out on strike will be back to work, and just in time for Christmas. So, things are looking bright as we head into 2025.
What Happens Next
Unite Here Local 2 said it would push for other full-service hotels in San Francisco to adopt the same standards established by the Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott agreements when contract negotiations resume in 2025.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco hotel workers approve new contract, ending 3-month strike
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Hilton hotel workers who have been on strike for the past three months voted Tuesday to approve a new union contract.
The approval by Unite Here Local 2 in San Francisco settles the last of three hotel strikes in San Francisco this year, union officials said.
The strikes at Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton hotels throughout the city began in the fall. Marriott workers reached agreements on Thursday, with Hyatt doing the same on Friday.
San Francisco Hyatt Hotel union workers unanimously approve new contract
The Hilton agreement is the same as those ratified by striking Hyatt and Marriott workers last week, according to Ted Waechter, spokesperson for the Unite Here Local 2 union.
The agreement applies to about 900 workers, 650 of which have been on strike for over three months, according to Waechter. The hotels include the Hilton San Francisco Union Square and about 250 workers at Hilton’s Parc 55 hotel, who had been prepared to go on strike.
All the deals with hotels include keeping the workers’ health plan, wage increases, and protections against understaffing and workload increases.
Many of the 2,500 hotel workers had been striking for about 93 days, picketing daily in Union Square, which is the site of a Hilton and the nearby Grand Hyatt on Stockton Street.
SF Hyatt Hotel union workers on strike to vote on ratifying tentative agreement for new contract
“These 93 days have not been easy, and I’m so proud that my coworkers and I never gave up,” said Bill Fung, a housekeeping attendant at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square for 29 years. “We stood together through the rain and cold, and even though there were some hard days, it was all worth it. We will go back to work with our health care, good raises, and the confidence of knowing that when we fight, we win.”
Hilton media representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie on Tuesday issued a statement welcoming an end to the strike, saying it came just in time for the holiday season and allows workers to return to work for key events such as the JP Morgan Health Care Conference and NBA All-Star Game.
Unite Here Local 2 represents about 15,000 hotel, airport and food service workers in San Francisco and San Mateo counties and represented the striking hotel workers.
Copyright 2024 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, re-transmission or reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. Is prohibited.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Giants Gold Glove Catcher Projected For Huge Season
The San Francisco Giants have made some huge offseason moves already and hope they aren’t done just yet, but as is the case for every team that doesn’t win the World Series, the most important development will have to come from within.
One player who took a huge step from 2023 to 2024 and will try to improve even further in 2025 is Giants catcher Patrick Bailey. After a beyond solid rookie season in 2023 in which he finished in the top-ten for the National League Rookie of the Year, Bailey won a Gold Glove in 2024.
While the offensive output was similar to his rookie season and not anything to write home about, there’s confidence the bat will come along for the 25-year-old.
In an article naming breakout stars in 2024 who are due for a huge season in 2025, Bailey was one of the first names mentioned by Will Leitch of MLB.com.
“Bailey led all players in Statcast’s fielding run value metric (plus-22), and FanGraphs, which factors pitch framing into its WAR calculation, had Bailey third among catchers with 4.3 WAR,” Leitch wrote. “At age 25, Bailey already has won as many Gold Gloves as Posey — now his team’s president of baseball operations — did over his whole career.”
Leitch pointed out that Bailey has established himself to be San Francisco’s catcher of the future, something that seems undeniable at this point. If the former first-round pick can develop his bat to the point where he is hitting at least close to the same rate as he was raking in the minor leagues, he will have a chance to become one of the best catchers in baseball.
Through 218 games over his first two seasons in MLB, Bailey has posted a batting average of .234, an OPS of .640, slugged .348, and has hit 15 home runs and 94 RBIs. Certainly not numbers that will blow you away at the plate, but his defense has more than made up for it and allowed the Giants to be patient with his bat.
In 193 minor league games since being drafted No. 13 overall in 2020, Bailey hit .251 across all levels and had an OPS of .779. He also showed an encouraging level of power with 25 home runs, but has struggled to replicate that in the big leagues thus far.
Having already established himself to be one of the best in the game on defense, Bailey will have a chance in 2025 to enter the upper echelon of catchers across the game if he can have the breakout season he appears poised to.
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