{"id":178617,"date":"2026-02-15T02:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T02:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/178617\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T02:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T02:59:10","slug":"san-francisco-ghirardelli-workers-hold-valentines-day-strike-outside-iconic-chocolate-and-ice-cream-shop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/178617\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Ghirardelli workers hold Valentine’s Day strike outside iconic chocolate and ice cream shop"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Valentine’s Day was a not-so-sweet treat for one of San Francisco’s iconic chocolate makers.<\/p>\n

Employees picketed all day Sunday at Ghirardelli’s longtime ice cream and chocolate shop at Ghirardelli Square. Union workers want a new contract with better wages and the ability to keep their current union health plan.<\/p>\n

The one-day picket line got lots of attention outside Ghirardelli’s famous chocolate and ice cream shop.<\/p>\n

It’s no coincidence this labor action is happening on one of the busiest days for chocolate.<\/p>\n

“We want Ghirardelli to treat workers as sweet as they treat customers who come for a great experience,” said Alexis Luna-Torres, spokesperson for Unite Here Local 2.<\/p>\n

MORE: Tentative $183 million deal reached to end historic San Francisco teachers’ strike<\/a><\/p>\n

Unite Here Local 2, the union representing about 40 Ghirardelli dishwashers, cashiers and candymakers, says it’s been bargaining for a new contract for months, including increased wages and the ability to keep their union-run health plan.<\/p>\n

“Ghirardelli has been pushing us to move to an employer plan,” Torres said.<\/p>\n

Twenty-nine-year Ghirardelli employee, Cynthia Cardoza, said she can’t make ends meet.<\/p>\n

“The cost of living in San Francisco is very expensive. With the salary we have, we can’t afford it. We are fighting for health benefits and a fair contract,” Cardoza said.<\/p>\n

Tourists were surprised by the labor action happening on Valentine’s Day.<\/p>\n

MORE: Thousands of Bay Area Kaiser workers hit the picket lines amid strike across California, Hawaii<\/a><\/p>\n

“It’s the first time I’ve come in and seen all of this,” said Megan Carvale from Orange County.<\/p>\n

“It’s kind of amusing and annoying. It’s kind of loud,” said Jim Carter-Hargrove from Reno.<\/p>\n

In response, Ghirardelli’s parent company tells ABC7 Eyewitness news: “Our main focus right now is on reaching an agreement that supports our employees and ensures the long-term success of our business… every proposal Ghirardelli has made involves covering 100% of the employee’s monthly healthcare premiums.”<\/p>\n

The next bargaining session is scheduled for March.<\/p>\n

\"Now<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Valentine’s Day was a not-so-sweet treat for one of San Francisco’s iconic chocolate makers.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[84810,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-178617","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-84810","9":"tag-san-francisco","10":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","11":"tag-san-francisco-news","12":"tag-sf","13":"tag-sf-headlines","14":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}