{"id":27481,"date":"2023-07-21T12:53:06","date_gmt":"2023-07-21T19:53:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=27481"},"modified":"2023-07-21T12:53:06","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T19:53:06","slug":"anchor-employees-launch-effort-to-keep-historic-sf-brewery-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/07\/21\/anchor-employees-launch-effort-to-keep-historic-sf-brewery-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"Anchor employees launch effort to keep historic SF brewery alive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Greg%20Wong\">By Greg Wong | Examiner staff writer<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jul 20, 2023\u00a0Updated\u00a022 hrs ago  (SFExaminer.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/8\/79\/87988b58-271c-11ee-b235-9fe5d5111562\/64b96483bc695.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267\" alt=\"Anchor Brewing Closing\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">People wait in line outside Anchor Public Taps in San Francisco, Thursday, July 13, 2023.AP Photo\/Jeff Chiu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In the wake of Anchor Brewing\u2019s abrupt decision to shutter its doors,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/food\/wine\/article\/save-anchor-steam-18199818.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">several residents<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sf.eater.com\/2023\/7\/18\/23798975\/anchor-brewing-closing-purchase-invest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">business owners<\/a>&nbsp;have expressed interest in saving the historic San Francisco tap room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, its workers want \u201ca fair shot\u201d at taking over the 127-year-old business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through their union, Anchor employees sent a letter to Sapporo USA on Wednesday night, informing the Anchor Brewing parent company\u2019s president that they have \u201cdecided to launch an effort to purchase the brewery and run it as a worker co-op.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>VinePair first reported&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/vinepair.com\/booze-news\/anchor-employees-brewery-takeover-bid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">on the union\u2019s intentions<\/a>, which the union later confirmed on their&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/anchorunionSF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">social media accounts<\/a>. International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 6, the brewery\u2019s union, didn\u2019t respond to The Examiner\u2019s request for comment prior to publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pedro de Sa, an agent at the union, wrote the letter on behalf of the approximately 40 workers it represents at the brewery, who were notified a week ago that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/business\/anchor-brewing-closing-after-127-years-as-sf-beer-staple\/article_eeae2ea4-20e3-11ee-a8e7-d7418bf1c383.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Anchor Brewing would cease operations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are not asking for a handout or charity,\u201d the letter read. \u201cAll we want is a fair shot at being able to continue to do our jobs, make the beer we love, and keep this historic institution open. We do not want the brewery and brand we love to be sold off before we even had a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>de Sa called on Sapporo president Mike Minami to respond by the end of the day on Friday to let the employees know if he was willing to work with them \u201ccooperatively and transparently through this process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An Anchor production employee told VinePair that the majority of the brewery\u2019s rank-and-file-workers and an undisclosed number of managers support what\u2019s considered a long shot effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is heartening to see so many stepping forward to possibly carry on the tradition of an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/07\/20\/business\/anchor-brewing-company-co-op.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">iconic San Francisco company<\/a>&nbsp;and beer,\u201d Sam Singer, a spokesperson for Anchor, told the New York Times. \u201cWe remain hopeful that Anchor will be purchased and continue on into the future, but it will be in the hands of the liquidator to make that decision and is dependent on what is offered by potential purchasers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Examiner reached out to Sapporo and Anchor for further comment on the union\u2019s attempt, but didn\u2019t hear back prior to publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Portero tap room, which purports to be the oldest craft brewery in the U.S., announced on July 12 that it has stopped brewing beer but will continue distributing its remaining stock until it runs out this month. The closure was met with fervent backlash and heartache from beer-loving San Franciscans&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/anchor-brewing-closing-has-lessons-for-sf-craft-breweries\/article_bf61f500-229a-11ee-a58a-4f9d9b544a7f.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">and Bay Area brewers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnchor has Mount Everest height of goodwill in the industry and brand equity, and it\u2019s no longer going to be in business. &#8230; I think that basically is a gut check.\u201d Jim Woods, the founder and CEO of San Francisco\u2019s Woods Beer &amp; Wine Co., told The Examiner last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Greg%20Wong\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/avatars\/9\/ae\/89e\/9ae89e2a-6f4b-11ed-8d25-273a8a9d2db0.3c232cf923584697a3e36f65063898e3.png?_dc=1675204882\" alt=\"Greg Wong\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Greg%20Wong\">Greg Wong<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the wake of Anchor Brewing\u2019s abrupt decision to shutter its doors,&nbsp;several residents&nbsp;and&nbsp;business owners&nbsp;have expressed interest in saving the historic San Francisco tap room. Now, its workers want \u201ca fair shot\u201d at taking over the 127-year-old business. Through their union, Anchor employees sent a letter to Sapporo USA on Wednesday&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/07\/21\/anchor-employees-launch-effort-to-keep-historic-sf-brewery-alive\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[830],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27481"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27485,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27481\/revisions\/27485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}