Alameda County court workers strike; judge says state budget won't allow for salary increases

HAYWARD, Calif. - Hundreds of Alameda County court workers walked off their jobs Wednesday morning, though the presiding judge said the state budget won't allow for salary increases because of state budget cuts. 

Court workers with SEIU Local 1021 have been working without a contract since Dec. 31, and negotiations have stalled.

"We really don't want to strike," said Shonda Williams, a court clerk and an SEIU 1021 bargaining member. "But we have to strike for our workers' rights, and for our community, for the public. We are here to serve the public, and we want to serve them and be knowledgeable. As well as serving them with accuracy and efficiency."

"It's disruptive for litigants who won't have their day in court. My client has waited two months for a hearing," said attorney Rowena Gargalicano. "Justice has come to a halt today." 

Added family law attorney Komaljet Kaur:  "It delays the court process, so we'll have to have a new date. I thought I'd get an email or something that this was happening. But we had no idea this was happening."
The strike coincides with the first full day on the job for newly sworn in District Attorney Ursula Jones Dixon, a former superior court judge now faced with prosecuting cases while court staff is on strike. 

Alameda District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson, right, is sworn in by Judge Charles Smiley during a ceremony at the Susan S. Muranishi County of Alameda Administration Building in Oakland. Feb. 18, 2025. 

The walkout will include criminal, civil, and juvenile courts across Alameda County, which could halt trials and delay hearings throughout the justice system, impacting everything from felony cases to divorces, custody cases, and traffic proceedings. 

Union workers point to three areas that they say created the impasse: Pervasive understaffing, being forced to perform tasks they haven't been trained to do and bad faith bargaining.

For example, the union said that because of a dearth of staff, legal processing assistants are sometimes told to perform the duties of a courtroom clerk, which paves the way for a multitude of possible errors. 

Over 98% of workers voted to go on strike.

In a lengthy statement, the Superior Court of Alameda County’s administration countered that they have been bargaining in good faith with the leadership of SEIU Local 1021, Alameda County Management Employees Association and the SEIU Local 1021/Alameda County Official Court Reporters Association. 

According to the administration, a main obstacle to reaching agreement with SEIU Local 1021, is the union’s "continued insistence" on a salary increase and retention stipends that are unsustainable given the court’s "dire budget situation caused by the State of California’s significant cuts to court funding."

The Alameda County Superior Court just had $4.4 million cut from its budget as part of a statewide $97-million cut to trial court budgets. 

The administration said that if the court were to give union members the salary increases they wanted, then the court would have to lay off a "significant number" of other people to maintain a balanced budget. 

"As shown during past contract negotiations and just last month, when the Court has the money, we strive to take care of the people who are critical to our operations," Presiding Judge Thomas Nixon said in a statement. "Over the last year, we have done everything in our power to keep all our employees working by making decisions to cut costs rather than lay off employees.

Nixon added: "We truly understand our employees’ frustrations and their desire to receive continued raises to help them offset the rising cost of living. They absolutely deserve the added peace of mind that increasing their wages will bring and we are doing everything we can to make sure they get some increase in salary."

According to the administration, clerks earn an average of $75,062 a year, employees represented by ACMEA earn an average $123,852 a year in salary and court reporters earn an average of $131,040 per year. 

Over the last three years, the employees in the three bargaining units currently on strike received more than 10% in pay increases among other benefits requested through negotiations, the administration said.

The administration also said that the issue of staffing and training has not been the primary focus of recent bargaining discussions.

In fact, the administration said that the Judicial Council of California estimates that, based on the current case load at the Superior Court of Alameda County, the court is overstaffed by more than 100 employees.

Because of the strike, the court administration instituted an emergency operations plan where any available managers and non-union employees will help keep critical cases on schedule and essential court filings processed.

Residents called for jury duty or who have cases pending before the court should continue to plan to go to court to check the status of their jury service or case. If people have a criminal case pending and are ordered to appear in court, they still must attend. The court will also post updates on its website at alameda.courts.ca.gov.