Bernie Sanders poses with Anchor Brewing Union in San Francisco

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (D - VT) poses with unionized workers from Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday, August 23, 2019. Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (D - VT) poses with unionized workers from Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday, August 23, 2019. Photo: Photo By Roy SanFilippo / Courtesy ILWU Photo: Photo By Roy SanFilippo / Courtesy ILWU Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Bernie Sanders poses with Anchor Brewing Union in San Francisco 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

Less than six months after Anchor Brewing employees officially unionized in San Francisco, workers celebrated by posing with pro-labor presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Sanders was in San Francisco on Friday to speak to the more than 1,000 supporters who came to see him present his platform at SVN West on Van Ness Ave. The Chronicle reports that while there, Sanders discussed his plan to rid Americans of student loan debt.

Brace Belden, a rack worker with the Anchor Brewing Union (part of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union), told SFGate that he also took some time that day to discuss labor issues with Anchor's workers.

"I spoke to him about his labor plan, which had been released I think the day before," said Belden, who was in the photograph. "It was just a really brief conversation — the one that I had with him — (but) I'm very much into his workplace democracy plan. And I told him how much it would help other people in a position that we've been in trying to organize at our workplace."

Unlike a report from a San Francisco restaurant owner who claimed Sanders was cranky and rude to staffers, Belden said the candidate was "the most animated" he'd ever seen.

"I've actually seen him speak before City College," Belden continued. "But ... this was a conversation, like a back-and-forth in a question and answer session. And I was really, really impressed with how genuinely dedicated he seemed to hear about the ILWU members and officials with concerns about stuff like automation, and indigenous sovereignty. And he was really — he was cool. He seemed really interested."

Sanders hasn't slowed down on the campaign trail; on Monday, he published an op-ed that would appoint regulators to limit the powers of tech giants like Facebook and Google over the media.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGate digital editor. Email: apereira@sfchronicle.com | Twitter: @alyspereira

