Strike of nearly 200 San Francisco court clerks has potential to delay trials, hearings

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Work at the San Francisco Superior Courthouse may be coming to a halt Thursday morning as nearly 200 court clerks go on strike.

This comes just two weeks after the union representing the court clerks voted to authorize the strike. In that time, union negotiators still haven’t been able to reach a deal with court management, saying they have refused to negotiate in good faith.

The union representing the court clerks says staffing, technology and training issues are leading to a backlog in the courts, delaying both civil and criminal cases. This has caused more than 70 misdemeanor cases to be thrown out.

MORE: Dozens of SF criminal cases from DUIs to domestic abuse thrown out due to COVID backlog

Because of the staffing shortage, they say defendants are sitting in jail longer than they should have to, and victims and their families are waiting longer than they should have to for their day in court.

The strike is happening as the high-profile Nima Momeni trial for the death of Cash App founder Bob Lee is in its second week. The San Francisco Superior Courthouse handles both criminal and civil divisions.

The union believes the strike has the possibility of halting trials and delaying hearings on everything from felonies to traffic violations, proceedings for divorces, and child custody cases.

ABC7 News has reached out to courthouse officials to see what the impact of the strike will be, and if anything has been canceled for Thursday.