SAN FRANCISCO (CN)—San Francisco Superior Court clerks launched a strike Thursday after negotiations broke down with their management amid accusations of chronic understaffing and lack of training in the workplace.
The strike, which included roughly 200 workers from both criminal and civil divisions, could halt trials and delay hearings in the city on everything from felonies to traffic violations if an agreement is not reached between union representatives and the court’s upper management.
“We don’t have enough clerks to staff the courtrooms. Clerks from other divisions are being thrown in to cover absences and vacancies without proper training,” said Benjamin Thompson, a courtroom clerk and vice president of his union chapter.
The strike comes at a critical time for the court, which is in its second week of the Momeni trial over the murder of Cash App founder Bob Lee at San Francisco’s Thomas J. Cahill Hall of Justice.
Protestors gathered Thursday outside the hall in purple shirts, their union’s trademark color, bearing picket signs and shouting chants through their megaphones.
“We’ve been in crisis mode since Covid, which has caused a huge backlog of cases,” explained Angelica Young, a deputy courtroom clerk in the picket line. She told Courthouse News that her employers routinely overworked its clerks and expected them to do work outside their expertise without proper training, which resulted in late or lapsed paperwork that has already caused over 70 misdemeanor cases to be dismissed.
“Basically, we just need training. We need the equipment to do our job, and they’re not providing that. We’ve asked several times, but it’s fallen on deaf ears,” she added.
Service Employees International Union, Local 1021, which represents the clerks, provided less than 60 minutes of notice before the strike, according to San Francisco Superior Court CEO Brandon E. Riley’s office.
Despite the strike, Riley announced that the court would remain open for mandated essential and emergency services, although several offices may be closed.
“To meet its obligations and duty to the public, court resources will be shifted to prioritize those cases with statutory deadlines such as criminal cases, custody arraignments, unlawful detainers, and civil harassment and domestic violence matters,” Riley’s office said in a statement.
The CEO said it was unfortunate that the union disrupted court services, but maintained that the court was negotiating in good faith and offering a fair deal to workers within their budget, which was recently slashed by $2.5 million.
Multiple protestors said they took no joy in disrupting the courts, and would rather be inside doing their jobs.
“If they really they really show an effort in trying to meet us on these issues around training and staffing, we’re ready to go back to work,” said Senior Courtroom Clerk Rob Borders, who has been with the court for more than 10 years.
Union representatives are scheduled to meet with the court Friday morning for negotiations. Clerks will also return to work. However, if an agreement is not reached, organizers said they are prepared to strike again.
“We’re meeting with management tomorrow again, and they better come correct,” said Kristin Hardy, regional union vice president, to cheers from the protestors.
In their absence, the courts are being operated by a skeleton crew of supervisors and junior clerks. Court managers could not be reached to determine the full extent of the strike on daily operations at the courthouse, but repeated calls to multiple departments in the civil and criminal were sent directly to voicemail.
“They’re probably busy putting out a fire or two right now,” laughed Borders, who said he wasn’t overly worried about potential harm to serious cases on the docket that day.
“There are emergency measures to run the department on a few employees. Obviously, it’s not sustainable, but that’s kind of the point we’re trying to make — to put pressure on upper management.”
The protest was also a hotbed for politicians, who rallied to speak to the clerks’ cause. San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who is running for mayor against the incumbent London Breed, said he sympathized with the clerks’ plight.
“I am grateful for the work that you do for the city and county of San Francisco every day. Without you, this city would not run,” he told the crowd.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins also made an appearance at the protest, as well as supervisor candidates Connie Chan, current District 1 Supervisor, and Ernest “EJ” Jones, who was recently endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Meanwhile, some professionals who work in the building said they noticed the difference. Attorney Richard Shikman expressed sympathy for the clerks, who he said he thinks of as co-workers.
“I imagine that there’s going to be things that were supposed to get done that did not get done, and as a result, cases will likely have to be put over,” he told Courthouse News.