Muni drivers continued a sick-out on Tuesday leaving riders to deal with system-wide delays.
Muni drivers continued a sick-out on Tuesday leaving riders to deal with system-wide delays for a second day in a row.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency tweeted early this morning that delays would continue throughout the day. The transit agency continued with last night’s commute plan, which included not running limited, express and cable car service.
The transit agency said about 300 vehicles were running Tuesday out of 600 scheduled to run.
As Muni drivers who did come to work started picking up riders this morning, city officials started chiming in on the Muni driver sick-out.
Mayor Ed Lee said in statement that he joins with Muni riders in their frustration with drivers who:
“… irresponsibly abandoned their jobs and intentionally disrupted our City’s public transportation system.”
He said Muni drivers should not punish the residents of The City because of disagreements on pay raises and pension contribution.
The Muni driver sick-out stems from a labor contract dispute with the transit agency. Transport Workers Union Local 250-A, which represents over 2,200 Muni workers, rejected Monday a proposed contract from the SFMTA, 1,198 to 47.
Supervisor Scott Wiener called the sick-out illegal and planned to introduce a resolution at the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday to urge drivers to end the sick-out and return to work:
“As the sick-out enters day two, we cannot afford, as a city, to allow this transit disruption to continue to undermine our economy and our residents’ ability to get to work, school, and go about their lives.”
Union leaders also released a statement Tuesday stating that SFMTA managers had workers through the bargaining process that any pension contributions from workers would be off-set by wage increases.
The union said they offered to return to the bargaining table but the offer was rejected.
Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin said Monday night that the arbitration process is already on its way scheduled for Saturday.
Reiskin apologized again to riders on the system-wide delays at Tuesday’s SFMTA board meeting:
“We’’re very grateful for the patience and perseverance of our riders. Muni riders are a resilient bunch.”
He also called the sick-out an illegal action by Muni drivers under the current Memorandum of Understanding.
Reiskin said he talked with union President Eric Williams Tuesday morning who said he has asked drivers to return to work Wednesday. Reiskin said he is cautiously optimistic that service will improve on Wednesday.
Muni Metro short routes:
Source: SFMTA
Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.
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