Workers at The Original Ghirardelli Chocolate & Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco walked off the job on Thursday, launching a three-day strike that left a closed sign at the flagship store and put the company’s healthcare fight in public view. It is the first strike at the original store since 1984.
The walkout centers on 45 workers represented by Unite Here Local 2, including cashiers, candy makers, stockers and greeters. They say they have been bargaining with Ghirardelli for more than a year without a deal, and the dispute has hardened around health coverage: the union administers the employees’ current plan, while the company wants them under its own plan.
For the workers on the picket line, the issue is not abstract. Michael Sage said he cannot risk a hospital visit, and the fear of getting sick hangs over every paycheck. Workers said their wages run from $19 to $25 an hour, and they said they cannot absorb higher health insurance costs on top of that.
That is where the fight turns from contract language to cash. Ghirardelli has proposed cutting workers’ healthcare plans while not disclosing how much it earns from a 6% healthcare coverage fee it charges customers, a detail the union says undercuts the company’s claim of openness. Diego Huerta said the workers are being asked to give up benefits without seeing the numbers behind the fee, while Sonya Karable said the switch could bring higher co-pays and emergency room bills that now run $50 and could rise sharply under the company plan.
Ghirardelli says it is in active contract negotiations and is committed to bargaining in good faith. The union says the company is doing the opposite, accusing it of bad-faith bargaining and a lack of transparency as the two sides try to settle the healthcare dispute. Rachel Ziering said she takes prescriptions and would not be able to afford them without the union plan, adding that the workers have to stand up for themselves.
The strike is affecting only the San Francisco flagship store, while the other two locations at Ghirardelli Square remain open with non-union workers. The picket line ended just before 10 p.m. Thursday, but the broader dispute is still unresolved, and the next test is whether the company changes its healthcare proposal before the three-day strike runs its course.
