Broad Coalition of San Francisco Community Groups and Unions Call for Boycott of Airbnb

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, October 8, at 12pm, a broad coalition of community groups and labor unions — including IFPTE Local 21 — gathered in front of the Airbnb headquarters to announce their launch of a boycott of Airbnb. The boycott is motivated by Airbnb's ties to President Trump's anti-worker agenda and massive cuts to public services, its avoidance of business taxes in San Francisco, and its contribution to the housing crisis. Activists are urging San Francisco residents to book elsewhere until Airbnb stops their greed.

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"As the Chair of San Francisco's budget committee, I see the effect of Airbnb's refusal to contribute to our local economy," said San Francisco District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan. "When Airbnb does not pay their fair share, it hurts all San Franciscans, when we cut city services to clean our streets, keep our libraries open, and Muni buses running. We all must boycott Airbnb until they do right by our City."

The growing coalition that has signed on to the boycott so far includes Indivisible SF, the Chinese Progressive Association, San Francisco Rising, SOMCAN, Coalition on Homelessness SF, Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco, Filipino Community Development Corporation, PODER SF, San Francisco Building Trades, United Educators of San Francisco, UNITE HERE Local 2, Teamsters Local 856, AFSCME 3299, UPTE-CWA, SEIU Local 1021, SEIU Local 2015, DSA SF, IFPTE Local 21, People's Budget SF, Council of Community Housing Organizations, and Jobs with Justice SF.

Organizers see the boycott as the escalation of a fight that began earlier this year to pressure Airbnb to drop its lawsuit against the City and County of San Francisco in order to protect San Francisco's public services from deep budget cuts. The lawsuit seeks a refund of $120 million in business taxes, tying up two-thirds of that in the city's litigation fund and preventing it from being used to fund critical public services, even as the city grapples with further budget shortfalls resulting from federal cuts to Medicaid. Organizers are also calling attention to the complicity of Airbnb in the Trump administration's attack on public services. Airbnb board member and co-founder, billionaire Joe Gebbia, took a position with DOGE in February and continues to serve the Trump administration in a chief role.

"They should drop this lawsuit," said SF District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey. "I am proud to stand with everybody saying, boycott this business until they're ready to be a responsible player in San Francisco. Boycott Airbnb."

"For a while now, Airbnb has refused to pay their taxes to San Francisco, despite taking full advantage of the beauty this city has to offer to tourists," said Anna Krasner of Indivisible SF. "That means when your Muni routes are cut, when your library hours are cut, when city services shrink more and more, we can directly blame one company: Airbnb. Airbnb does not respect San Francisco or its people. It does not deserve our hard-earned dollars."

"[Airbnb] breaks the laws whenever they want to and then they turn around and destroy our programs. They destroy them on a federal level and they're trying to destroy them in San Francisco," said Fred Sherburn Zimmer of the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco. "If you love San Francisco or you hate the Trump cuts, we're asking everyone to open their computer or get out their phone and cancel their Airbnb account."

"Airbnb is contributing to our worsening homelessness and housing crisis by taking thousands of units of housing off the rental market from everyday San Franciscans and driving up rents," said Joy Zhan, a longtime San Francisco resident who works for the City and County and is the Civic Center chapter president of SEIU 1021. "They're making billions of dollars, and now they want to sue the city and not pay their fair share of taxes. This money could go into staffing up our city departments who are cleaning the streets and providing housing assistance. We are asking for properly staffed departments, good city services that are meeting the needs of the residents."

Visit the coalition's website at boycott-airbnb.org. The site features a full explanation of the boycott's motivation and goals, as well as a page where supporters can pledge to "book elsewhere." The coalition has also launched a social media campaign to spread their message across San Francisco, especially to residents booking their travel for the holiday season.

SOURCE IFPTE Local 21