OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — “No justice, no peace” was the slogan of the day Wednesday morning for hundreds of protestors who usually run the justice system.
Picket lines stood in front of every superior courthouse in Alameda County as hundreds of courtroom clerks, court reporters, and their supervisors gathered to protest low salaries, chronic understaffing, and inadequate training in a last-minute work action led by local union leaders.
Although protests took place countywide, workers turned heads at the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse where 40 court employees blasted protest songs by Lil Wayne and Kendrick Lamar from parked cars with open doors at the curbside. The workers posted up outside their usual workplace as early as 4:30 a.m., despite rain and cold temperatures, and cheered when passing cars honked in support.
The demonstrations, one union representative claimed, were the result of the court’s “bad faith” bargaining around their demands, a process that has lasted the last five months.
“The biggest message we want to get out there is that we’re here to serve the public, but management has shown us in recent years that they haven’t made that a priority,” Darrell Drew, a six-year court clerk and member of the union’s bargaining team, told Courthouse News. “That should be our priority.”
The protests were led by SEIU Local 1021, a union that represents most employees of the county’s superior courthouses. The action has broad support from the union’s workers, who recently voted with 98.7% in favor of authorizing a strike.
The strikes took the courts by surprise, and courthouses across the county fell back on emergency measures, using any available managers and unrepresented employees to fill “key positions” to keep critical cases on schedule.
A spokesperson for the court said that it was not informed of the strike until late morning.
“They decided to inform the media before they decided to inform the court,” Paul T. Rosynsky, public information officer for the Alameda Superior Courts, told Courthouse News.
Grievances were varied among the protestors. While some shouted for higher wages, others were concerned about their job’s quality-of-life issues.
“A lot of people are here about pay. I’m actually more for proper staffing levels with the courts,” Scott Sanchez, a 13-year courtroom clerk, told Courthouse News. He said staffing levels have dropped to “skeletal” levels, making it difficult to get time off.
“When I need to go to my eight-year-old daughter’s report day at school, I can’t take the two hours off to go see her because they don’t have anybody to cover me,” he said.
Anthony Mirande, a 19-year legal processing assistant with Alameda County’s criminal division, said he was concerned that staff weren’t being properly trained.
“They’re trying to take legal processing assistants, which are — they’re not courtroom clerks — and forcing them into a courtroom,” he said.
Mirande explained that training a courtroom clerk takes a full year and usually three years before it’s perfected. He added that asking an employee to do that job without proper training was “impossible” and a “disservice to the public.”
The court accused its workers of putting the community “at risk” by disrupting court hearings and the processing of lawsuits and other legal documents.
“Without court clerks, court reporters and some managers working, it will be harder for domestic violence victims to receive emergency restraining orders against violent partners and some felons could be released from jail if their case cannot be heard before state-mandated deadlines,” the court said in a press release.
But according to the workers, justice is already being delayed on a daily basis. They claim their current conditions significantly raise the possibility of error, which could result in ballooning wait times and violations of innocent people’s rights.
“I love working for the courts,” Drew explained. “We all love our jobs, helping out with the public, but we need management to be on the same page with us.”
Rosynksy told Courthouse News the union’s accusations of bad-faith bargaining were a “false narrative.”
Union representatives in front of the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse said they’re prepared to strike for as long as it takes to reach their demands. Workers have dug in their heels outside the courts, putting up canopies for the rain and equipping themselves with enough packaged snacks to last the day.
“If the manager is not willing to meet with us after today, then we’ll be back out here tomorrow,” said Drew.
The average county courtroom clerk earns $75,062 a year with benefits that include free health care coverage for them and their family.
Single Alameda County residents who make less than $84,600 each year are considered “low-income,” according to recent data from the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
