San Francisco Municipal Railway buses, light-rail vehicles and cable cars are resuming regular service today following a three-day worker “sickout” apparently resulting from an ongoing contract dispute.
About 90 percent of Muni’s fleet is in service today, agency officials said this morning. Only about a third of the fleet was operating on Monday and about half on Tuesday.
The cable cars, a popular tourist attraction, were not in service all week but are operating again today, Muni officials said.
Riders have faced long delays and crowded buses since a large number of Muni workers called in sick on Monday and again on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Transport Workers Union Local 250-A, the Muni employees’ union, denied organizing the sickout. A 2010 ballot measure passed by San Francisco voters bans Muni worker strikes.
Last week, the union overwhelmingly rejected the most recent contract proposal from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
TWU Local 250-A officials said the proposal included a pay hike but also required workers to contribute to their pensions and would result in a net loss in their take-home pay.
The two sides will now go into arbitration, with the next meeting scheduled for Saturday, Muni spokesman Paul Rose said.
SFMTA officials have said they will not pay the transit workers for sick time unless they provide a doctor’s note. TWU Local 250-A president Eric Williams said the agency also intends to seek damages from the union because of the work stoppage.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
