San Francisco court clerks go on one-day strike over understaffing

SAN FRANCISCO – More than two hundred courtroom clerks from the San Francisco Superior Court system are on strike.

The union representing San Francisco Superior Court clerks accuses the court management system of not negotiating in good faith. The union also says the court system is severely understaffed.

Clerks picketed outside the Hall of Justice early Thursday morning. The strike began at 6 a.m., with workers trying to keep noise levels down at first to avoid disturbing residents living in apartments across the street. But by mid-morning, the scene had grown louder with noisemakers, whistles, and signs as more people joined the picket line.

Courtroom clerks handle a range of responsibilities, from managing paperwork and overseeing jury selection to recording evidence and maintaining the court calendar. About 200 clerks are participating in the strike.

The union says its contract with the county expired two weeks ago, and negotiations on a new contract stalled. Clerks are demanding better staffing, improved training, and overall reforms to how their roles are managed.

Rob Borders, a courtroom clerk in the criminal division, said the lack of staffing can lead to clerical errors that affect the entire justice system. 

“Somebody could get an inaccurate sentence, be released from jail early when they’re not supposed to, or stay in jail longer when they’re supposed to be released. Pretrial hearings can be postponed,” he said. “Our work affects people in our community, whether it’s a defendant or a victim of a crime, people going through a divorce, or an adoption. There are a lot of things the court does.”

Clerks are also asking for wage increases as part of the contract negotiations, but say their primary demands are better staffing, standardized training across all departments in case clerks are called to fill-in in a different type of court room than they’re used to, and a reference manual for their work.

KTVU reached out to the managers at the San Francisco Superior Court to get their response to the union’s allegations and to gauge the potential impact on cases. The court has not responded as of early Thursday morning.

The murder trial for Nima Momeni, the man accused of killing Cash App founder Bob Lee, is underway in San Francisco this week. Court is scheduled to be in session for a half-day on Thursday. It’s unclear if the schedule was affected because of the strike. Clerks on the picket line today told KTVU they expect non-union managers to cover that case, but disruptions are likely in other criminal, civil, and juvenile cases.

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