The people cheering and banging drums on the front steps of San Francisco’s Hall of Justice are usually quietly keeping the calendars and paperwork on track for the city’s courts.

Those court clerks are now hitting the picket lines, citing the need for better staffing and more training. It’s the second time the group has gone on strike since 2024, and this strike may last a lot longer than the last one.

Defense attorneys, prosecutors and judges agree that court clerks are the engines that keep the justice system running. Without them, it all grinds to a slow crawl.

“You all run this ship like the Navy,” District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder said to a group of city clerks.

The strike is essentially a continuation of an averted strike that occurred in October 2025.

“We’re not asking for private jets or unicorns,” Superior Court clerk employee Ben Thompson said. “We’re just asking for effective tools with which we can do our job and training and just more of us.”

Thompson said the training is needed to bring current employees up to speed on occasional changes in laws.

Another big issue is staffing, something that clerks said has been an ongoing issue since October 2024, the last time they went on a one-day strike.

Court management issued their latest statement on Wednesday, in which the court’s executive officer, Brandon Riley, said they have been at an impasse with the union since December.

The statement also said Riley and his team has been negotiating with the union in good faith. He pointed out the tentative agreement the union came to with the courts in October 2025, but it fell apart when union members rejected it.

California’s superior courts are all funded by the state. In 2024, Sacramento cut back on court money by $97 million statewide due to overall budget concerns.

While there have been efforts to backfill those funds, they’ve never been fully restored.

Inside court on Thursday, the clerk’s office was closed, leaving the public with lots of unanswered questions. Attorneys and bailiffs described a slightly chaotic day in court.

Arraignments were all funneled to one courtroom and most other court procedures were funneled to another one. Most of those procedures were quickly continued.

At the civil courthouse, while workers rallied outside, a date-stamping machine was set up inside so people could stamp their own documents and place them in locked bins.

Notices were also posted at the family law clinic and small claims courts, noting limited available services while the strike is in progress.

According to a union spokesperson, there has been no date set for negotiations to resume, meaning the courthouse logjams could stretch for days, weeks or more.

The San Francisco Giants are likely to break camp with one of their top prospects on the 26-man roster. But they’re all getting plenty of work in camp.

The thing is, just because a prospect doesn’t make a 26-man opening day roster doesn’t mean they can’t help a Major League team at some point in the season. Others, for now, are working on developing talent.

In this exercise, five prospects that are part of Major League camp were selected to determine if they’re real depth this season or if they’re marketing names — for now. Marketing names can become real depth before one knows it, such as the first Giants prospect listed.

Bryce Eldridge: Real Depth

Eldridge has nothing left to prove at the minor league level after he was selected in the first round in the 2023 MLB draft. Back then, he was the classic example of a marketing name, one that creates buzz in the organization and with fans.

But, after more than two years of development and a taste of the Majors, he’s real depth. He’s expected to make the opening day roster and share time at first base and designated hitter with Rafael Devers, one of the game’s most established sluggers.

On Wednesday, he hit his first spring training home run, one of three in the 13-12 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Blake Tidwell: Real Depth

Tidwell was acquired from the New York Mets in July in the Tyler Rogers trade. He only pitched in four games for the Mets, so he still has prospect status. But that MLB service time, combined with his early impressions in camp, make him real depth for a team that only has one or two spots available on the pitching staff.

Tidwell may not make the team out of camp for opening day. But he’s one of those prospects that could make his way to San Francisco during the season due to injury or underperformance. It’s an example of using the time in spring training wisely and paving the way for a future promotion.

Will Bednar: Real Depth

The Giants have been waiting for their first-round pick in the 2021 MLB draft to pay off, and this might be the year that Will Bednar finally makes the jump to the Majors. He’s in Major League camp and he’s been converted into a reliever in the past couple of seasons.

He went 2-3 with a 5.68 ERA in 38 games, his full season as a reliever. But he’s impressed the new coaching staff during camp and there’s enough buzz around him to consider him a potential call-up during the season. He’s in his fifth professional season so the Rule 5 draft is a consideration this coming offseason.

Parks Harber: Marketing Name

For now, the young third baseman is going to create a lot of buzz in the farm system in 2026, but he isn’t a threat to anyone’s job yet. Picked up in the Camilo Doval trade, he only has 102 minor league games under his belt after he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Yankees. He got his first spring training hit on Wednesday. His career slash of .312/.413/.528 is encouraging but he hasn’t played higher than High-A Eugene.

Bo Davidson: Marketing Name

The Giants signed Davidson as an undrafted free agent and he’s starting to generate real buzz in spring training as a non-roster invitee. He’s not quite real depth yet because he has yet to play above Double-A Richmond. But the way he’s playing in the spring he should be at Sacramento sometime this season, which puts him in the position to be real depth.

He’s hit well at every stop, but he showed off more power than ever last season. He hit a career-best 18 home runs and 70 RBI as he slashed .281/.376/.468. He played 42 games at Richmond last season.