SF SEIU 1021 SF Court Workers Strike

It is long overdue that all public workers strike in this state as they have been experiencing wage CUTS for years, including insulting furloughs, better known as unemployment days, and no wage increases, while the cost of living rises. This is a state with 750,000 MILLIONAIRE HOUSEHOLDS who must be taxed more with the progressive income tax. Instead, Democrat Gov Jerry Brown is attacking labor, cutting their paltry salaries, to balance the budget. His flunkey actually called the pay cuts equality of sacrifice in a city with 18 billionaires and many more millionaires like Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein whose taxes have not increased in a press release dated Sunday, July 15, 2012 at
http://www.sfsuperiorcourt.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/SEIUStrike%20%282%29.pdf
NEVER, EVER TAKE ANY PAY CUTS. Labor can only advance when organized labor fights back and demands that the rich pay the bills. The clerical workers are not highly paid; only the judges and their ilk live comfortably.

Here is the union's statement from http://www.seiu1021.org/
No Justice, No Justice: Striking clerks slow down SF Superior Court
Published on July 17th 2012

Noisy picket lines disrupted activities at San Francisco Superior Court sites today, Monday, July 16 as court workers represented by SEIU Local 1021 walked off the job.

Even though Superior Court CEO Michael Yuen told the media that the strike had no affect on operations, those inside told a very different story. At the Civic Center Courthouse civil, probate and family law trials were postponed. Some judges tried to do their own clerk work. Potential jurors were sent home and filing service windows were deserted and replaced by drop boxes.

At the Hall of Justice the offices that collect fees, file papers, and schedule court dates for traffic and criminal matters closed. The majority of criminal jury trials were postponed.

"The place is like a ghost town," said Gary Feliciano, a clerk at the Civic Center Courthouse. "Almost nothing going on."

The court workers struck in protest of the employer's violation of federal labor law. In contract negotiations the workers requested the court's financial information to see how their employer justified demanding pay cuts. Instead of providing the information as legally required, the court management unilaterally abandoned negotiations and imposed the pay cut. In response, the workers exercised their legal right to strike.

On Tuesday, July 17, the workers will return to their jobs servicing the public's legal needs. Although today's action inconvenienced many, the workers hope that demanding transparency from the court will keep it from continuing to cut services.

The workers made their point that the courts don't work if they don't, and hope to have management rescind the imposed cuts, provide the information for real bargaining and get back to the table. Court CEO Yuen met briefly with union leaders and agreed to meet with all the Superior Court unions and the San Francisco Labor Council Wednesday for further discussion.

"We are the ones who turn the wheels of justice," said Priscilla Agbunag, a court clerk and a member of the union's bargaining team. "The court needs to respect us and deal with us according to the law."