A one-day strike has brought massive chaos to SF Superior Court today, with more than 200 clerks striking outside 850 Bryant, and the Nima Momeni trial is delayed for the day because of the strike and will resume, possibly, Wednesday.

It’s one hell of a mess down at the SF Superior Court at 850 Bryant Street, as KPIX reports that more than 200 court clerks are on a one-day strike strike over what they claim are labor law violations at the very facility that is supposed to litigate law violations. According to the SF Standard, there is also a rally by the Golden Gate Bridge protesters gumming up the front of the building, and a Mission Local correspondent reports the strike has put the kibosh on the Bob Lee murder trial, for today at least.  

KTVU reports that the striking clerks were out there at 6 am Thursday morning. These clerks generally manage paperwork, jury selection, the recording of evidence, and also maintain the courts’ calendars in the civil, criminal, and juvenile justice departments.

But according to the SEIU 1021 SF Superior Courts chapter, their contract expired nearly a month ago. They are of course asking for a wage increase, but also more staffing, and standardized training for those occasions when clerks are forced to fill in at departments with which they are not familiar.

“We don’t have enough clerks to staff the courtrooms,” courtroom clerk and SEIU chapter VP Benjamin Thompson said in a Wednesday statement. “Clerks from other divisions are being thrown in to cover absences and vacancies without proper training. Different courtrooms handle different kinds of matters, some of which are unique to that courtroom alone. Clerks aren’t just interchangeable parts to be slotted in without a second thought.”

“It’s wreaking havoc on people’s lives,” he continued. “You need specific training to ensure you aren’t destroying someone’s future. Currently you have defendants sitting in county jail longer than they should have to, and victims and their families waiting longer than they should have to, for their day in court."

Per KTVU, the Nima Momeni trial for the murder of Bob Lee was expected to proceed today with non-union labor. That appears to have not worked out.

Mission Local’s Eleni Balakrishanan reports that the strike has indeed halted the Momeni trial, for Thursday, at least. Balakrishanan adds that “I’m told Nima Momeni’s attorneys bought the strikers a bunch of food from the Cuban cafe.” That’s deviously clever, and I guess it’s legal? After all, the strikers are outside the courthouse and not on duty.

Jurors in the murder trial get Fridays off, and while this would normally mean the trial would resume Monday, KTVU is reporting that it will not resume until Wednesday, October 30, "at the earliest."

The court’s executive officer Brandon Riley claims the courthouse was given less than an hour notice about the one-day strike. He said in his own statement that “It is unfortunate that SEIU has decided to disrupt court services after our many hours of negotiations, and a mediation session, to reach a fair contract that reflects the economic impacts from the state’s reduction in funding for the Judicial Branch in FY 24-25, which has resulted in a $2.5 million ongoing cut to the Court’s budget.”

So the strike will, for Thursday, affect everything from high-profile criminal proceedings down to routine traffic ticket cases. The Standard notes that a few of the Golden Gate Bridge protesters were scheduled to appear in court today, but their proceedings have now been delayed until December 12.

Related: SF Superior Court Drowning in Case Backlog, Public Defender Calls it ‘Humanitarian Crisis’ [SFist]

Image: SEIU 1021