Muni sickout continues for 2nd day

Cable Cars sit idle at the historic Cable Car Barn and Powerhouse on June 3, 2014 in San Francisco, California. For the second day in a row, San Francisco commuters are facing long delays as San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency (MUNI) transit workers continue a sickout to protest against a rejected labor contract. More than half of the city's buses and trains are out of service and the famed San Francisco Cable Cars are not running. less Cable Cars sit idle at the historic Cable Car Barn and Powerhouse on June 3, 2014 in San Francisco, California. For the second day in a row, San Francisco commuters are facing long delays as San Francisco ... more Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Muni sickout continues for 2nd day 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

It was another tumultuous day for San Francisco commuters, as half the 600 drivers of buses, trains and cable cars who usually show up for work called in sick Tuesday, the outgrowth of an impasse in contract negotiations between management and labor.

The public transit system's worst labor disruption in decades could continue on Wednesday - even though an unusually combative Mayor Ed Lee has directed the city's Human Resources Department to investigate each worker who has called in sick.

The mass absence flouts a law that bans Muni employees from striking. But since it's a wildcat action, union leaders are emphatic in saying that they had nothing to do with making it happen and, therefore, cannot call it off.

"The union has no part in what's going on," said Eric Williams, president of Local 250-A of the Transport Workers Union, which represents 2,000 Muni employees. "Our members are truly frustrated at being treated like they don't matter."

The situation on city streets was better Tuesday than Monday, but not by much. Many commuters complained of at least hour-long waits to board sporadically arriving buses and trains.

Tourists, meanwhile, could only look forlornly at empty cable car turnarounds again, with the service completely shut down for another day. Shuttle buses were available, but it's not the same.

Arbitrator's meeting

The disruption conceivably could continue through the end of the week. By Saturday, an arbitrator is scheduled to meet with negotiators from labor and management.

Politicians and business groups, meanwhile, sounded off against the unofficial protest.

"These are good jobs at Muni - $32 an hour is nothing to sneeze at," Lee said. "They're causing pain to a lot of other people who are just trying to get to work. ... It is causing a tremendous amount of anger from the public."

The mayor said that any worker who cannot prove to the city's Human Resources staff that he or she was ill would lose pay and potentially face suspension or termination.

There was also dismay in a statement released by Supervisor Malia Cohen, who represents neighborhoods in the city's southeast corner.

"My constituents rely heavily on Muni and do not have the luxury of easily walking to other regional alternatives such as BART," Cohen said. "Once again, thousands of San Franciscans lost time and money - and maybe even their jobs - because too many Muni drivers failed to show up for work."

The friction point in the current contract involves the amount of money that workers will pay into their pensions.

The two-year contract proposed by the Municipal Transportation Agency would give Muni workers 11.25 percent in raises while requiring them to pick up a 7.5 percent pension payment now paid by the MTA. But Williams said the apparent gain is illusory, since the employees in 2011 were required to start paying 3.5 percent of their salaries into pensions.

Strike ban

Muni workers, like all San Francisco city employees, are prohibited from striking. Under a law approved by voters in 2010, if the union rejects the contract, the two sides go before an arbitrator who cannot rule against Muni management's proposals unless the union proves its interests outweigh "the public interest in efficient and reliable transit."

This takes away the chance for a back-and-forth between labor and management, Williams said Tuesday.

The sickout comes amid displeasure over the proposed labor agreement that was overwhelmingly rejected Friday by Muni operators.

In a statement Tuesday, Transport Workers Union Local 250-A officials said bus drivers, cable car operators and other transit workers had voted 1,198-47 against the proposed contract. Union leaders said that they had offered to return to the bargaining table but that Muni declined to do so.

The MTA board met for an hour Tuesday afternoon to discuss the work stoppage. Spokesman Paul Rose said afterward that 100 more drivers had shown up Tuesday than Monday, and the agency was "cautiously optimistic" of a further increase Wednesday, in part because of the requirement to present a doctor's note or go unpaid for the day.

But Rose said there were no signs that service was about to return to normal.

"We're encouraging our riders to include a bit more time in their commute to get to their destination," he said.