San Francisco Court Clerks Launch Strike Over Staffing and Criminal Case Backlogs

San Francisco’s Superior Court operations were majorly disrupted on Thursday as 200 clerical workers launched an open-ended strike.

The court clerks, represented by Service Employees International Union Local 1021, announced Monday that they would walk off the job this week following months of bargaining over a new three-year contract.

The union said the court has refused to bargain in good faith over staffing and training issues that have contributed to case delays and a significant backlog at the court, and could lead to mistakes they worry would harm the public.

“We’re spread so thin that nobody’s really been given the opportunity to be adequately trained for some of the assignments that we’re sent off to,” said Rob Borders, a criminal court clerk and member of the union bargaining team. He said the union has been raising its concerns in bargaining since last year, and hasn’t been able to reach a “sustainable resolution.”

“The situation hasn’t gotten any better, and our concerns are the same, and they’re growing,” he said.

On Thursday morning, clerks formed picket lines at 850 Bryant Street, on the steps of the city’s Hall of Justice.

The workers held a one-day strike in 2024 over similar issues and threatened a three-day walkout in October, as contract negotiations stalled. That month, the union and court reached a tentative deal to avert the work stoppage, but members rejected it.

Benjamin Thompson, a criminal division clerk at the Hall of Justice and vice president of the union, said court management has refused to bargain over training and staffing.

“They have decided that not only is staffing not an issue, but formal training to make sure that we do our jobs correctly is not an issue,” he told KQED on Wednesday. “It’s not something they want to address, which I’m flabbergasted by.”

“These are people’s lives,” he continued.

Borders said that staffing shortages have existed for years in the criminal division and are being exacerbated as the San Francisco district attorney’s office files more cases.

The union said a number of cases have been dropped after missing constitutionally mandated deadlines. Separately, the court has had to release some defendants pending trial after the San Francisco public defender’s office, since May, has been rejecting some felony cases, claiming it is also dealing with chronic understaffing and excessive workloads.

City data shows that District Attorney Brooke Jenkins filed 8,400 cases in 2025, compared to about 5,600 in 2021, during former District Attorney Chesa Boudin’s last full year on the job.

Borders said overburdened clerks have been put in positions that have led to paperwork errors, with consequences like keeping someone in custody longer than they need to be, or a person’s sentence being incorrectly reflected.

“Nothing catastrophic has happened yet,” he said, but “we would hate to be in a position where one of our members has their names on a minute order that was responsible for releasing somebody that wasn’t supposed to be released, and then something horrible happens.”

On Monday, the union said it had presented management with “commonsense proposals” that address the staffing and training concerns, but had been unable to reach any agreement to avert the strike.

According to Court Executive Officer Brandon Riley, the Hall of Justice will remain open for mandated essential and emergency services during the strike.

“Mandated services will proceed with the help of management employees who will triage and prioritize emergency matters for people who need help today,” he said in a statement.

Court resources will be shifted to prioritize cases with statutory deadlines, including criminal cases, custody arraignments, unlawful detainers and civil harassment and domestic violence matters.

Matters without pressing statutory deadlines will be recessed, the court said, and clerks’ offices could be closed. Some departments at the Hall of Justice, Civic Center Courthouse and Juvenile Justice Center will remain open.

It’s unclear how long the strike could last.