Court clerks reached a tentative deal with the San Francisco Superior Court Friday afternoon, ending a two-day strike that disrupted trials.

Service Employees International Union Local 1021, representing the clerks, had been trying to reach a deal with court management for a three-year contract. The union demanded higher wages, increased health coverage, better working conditions, reduced workload, increased staffing and better training. 

“We made it very clear to court management that the court can’t function without us,” said Rob Borders, a court clerk and bargaining team member, in a statement. “We are very thankful to the public who supported us, including the numerous attorneys, other court workers, public officials, and legal experts who stood in solidarity with us and affirmed our importance to the justice system.”

Court management returned to the bargaining table on Thursday, when clerks went to the picket lines, according to the union. 

By Friday afternoon, court management made compromises on cost-of-living adjustments as well as a commitment to addressing the staffing and training issues, the union said.

“Because our work is so critical to so many people’s lives, we have every intention of holding court management accountable to working with us, not against us, to resolve the well-known staffing and training issues that have for too long been wreaking havoc on San Franciscans’ lives,” Borders said.

The roughly 220 court clerks in SEIU 1021 still have to vote on the proposal. In October 2025, the union and court management reached a tentative agreement for the three-year contract but then SEIU members voted against it. 

Court clerks will go back to work Monday, and services will resume as normal. 

“We convened our chapter membership and reached consensus that it was the right thing to do for our families and the public to recommend this agreement for ratification and return to work,” Borders said. 

Alise Maripuu is an intern at BCN with a focus on covering the Peninsula. Originally from San Carlos, Alise discovered her passion for journalism after studying abroad in Thailand during her senior year attending UC Santa Cruz. Her experience in Thailand taught her the consequences for democracy when living in a society with strict laws against free speech. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history, Alise took courses in journalism at Skyline Community College to learn how to write for news. As the Chief Copy Editor on Skyline’s student-run newspaper for the 2023-24 school year, Alise gained editing and managing experience leading a team of reporters. She covered hyperlocal stories affecting her campus such as the rise in food and housing insecurity. Alise wants to focus on data journalism.