>> reporter: good afternoon. i'm jade hernandez. will a judge's decision impact ac transit rider delays? we'll explain -- coming up. >> reporter: in oakland this afternoon, union workers at two assisted living centers on strike. what the issues are -- coming up. these are dangerous tasks. there are still those with bombs and bullets who will try to stop iraq's progress. >> president obama says the iraq war is nearing and end but there's still work left to do.

good afternoon. i'm maureen naylor. tori campbell has today off. topping our news -- in a few hours, a judge is expected to issue a ruling on the ongoing contract dispute between ac transit and the drivers. the union representing drivers is trying to stop management from imposing a contract and the union is having a trickle- down effect. jade hernandez has more. >> reporter: good afternoon. this is a waiting room. bus operators waiting to see if the judge will allow them to go back to their work schedule, and riders are waiting to see if they will find out if they will face any more delays. we're live in oakland to give you an idea how long this has been going on. the contract ended june 30th. for three month, both sides haggled over a new contra. the day before the contract

officially ended, the union went to a judge requesting both sides enter arbitration. ac transit's new contract created a new bus driver schedule without input from drivers. a judge was expected to decide whether or not to grant an injunction to lift the imposed contract and allow drivers to go back to their schedule. ac transit said if drivers don't work under a contract and continue to drag this out, the agency will be forced to lay off workers and reduce weekend service. anywhere from 15% to 20% of the drivers have called in sick every day since the contract was imposed. drivers say this is just a -- say they have to work long hours without overtime pay and drive unfamiliar routes. >> i'm -- i've actually been

upset, too. hopefully the judge will make a decision in our favor. we don't want to inconvenience the riders at all or have the buses stop ruling. >> reporter: we're still waiting forked the judge to make that de-- waiting for the judge to make that ruling. ac transit' spokesman said if a judge decides in favor of the union they will appeal. we're live at union headquarters this afternoon where three already scheduled meetings will take place today. and rob roth will continue to follow the story for you and have more for you tonight. reporting live from oakland, jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. >> all right, jade. thank you. san francisco muni drivers are getting nearly a 6% raise. those are the same drivers who twice refused to make contract concessions when every other

refused to cut the budget. the average driver will earn $29. this will cost about $8 million. to make up the difference, muni cut service by 7%. a meeting is set for tomorrow. the firefighters union in san jose is trying to come up with a way to get dozens of laid off firefighters back on the job. the union offered a new proposal yesterday to try to save the jobs of 49 firefighters who were laid off friday and saturday. the city says the new proposal till still does not contain enough soft savings, as the city struggles with the $118 million shortfall. >> when you see how much we need to avoid the layoffs, we need almost $10 million. so there's a $67 million gap teen what they are offering and what the proposal states. >> the citizens can suffer now and there's not enough

firefighters to back us up in these big accident. there could be injuries. there could be deaths. >> the city is closing two fire stations. another 142 city employees in addition to the firefighters lost their job in this latest round of cost-cutting layoffs. in the last hour, healthcare workers have been rallying hoping to gain ground in an ongoing contract dispute. kraig debro is live in oakland this morning with more on the heart of this disagreement. good afternoon, kraig. >> reporter: good afternoon, maureen. >> reporter: good afternoon. the workers are promising a 4- hour-a-day strike here at piedmont gardens. this is just off piedmont -- piedmont avenue. dozens of workers started walking the lines at 5:00 a.m. this morning. a neighbor called police

because the noise. the tensions on the lines escalated. the most serious moments came when vans carrying replacement workers, or scabs as they are called, arrived at the job site. they are on strike over benefits of sick leave and healthcare. >> if we go to the doctor and we have to stay in the hospital overnight, the deductible is $3,000. do you know how many pay checks i have to say for $3,000? >> i got a courtesy notice for calling in sick. i was dog sick. i came in here with pinkeye. >> reporter: there is even an allegation that a person was forced to sick and that led to a quarantine. >> there was a virus. for resident protection, we take care of them. the state was aware of it. >> reporter: later this morning, the striking workers walked around the block and

hollered outside the office of management. >> i think it's a good thing for people to stand up for what they believe in. >> reporter: the workers work at two different facilities in oakland owned by american baptist housing of the west. the two sides have been negotiating a new contract since february. we didn't speak to any residents but the ones who came out on their balconies seemed to agree. >> they take care of the elderly and treat them with respect and dignity. i think that's why they are out here. >> reporter: now, the strike is just scheduled to go five days. as you hear me start to talk, you might hear some noise getting worker. the healthcare 0 workers, they were walking around the block. well, a few of them have just

returned from around the block. you can hear them playing the drums. the workers get 12 days of sick leave. the company -- [ inaudible due to background noise ] >> reporter: this strike is scheduled to go five days. reporting live in oakland, kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 news. >> can definitely hear them there. a federal judge in virginia ruled today that a lawsuit can go ahead against president obama's healthcare reform law. the president signed the legislation in march after fighting for a year to get it passed. virginia is more than a dozen states to say they will challenge the law in court. the law oversteps the bounds of the constitution commerce clause. in his ruling this morning, he said this raises a number of

constitutional issues. presidentpresident obama spoke to 500 veterans in atlanta georgia, and is just one planned of many. he says the troop withdrawal plan is progressing as promised and on schedule and says 50,000 troops will remain to train iraqi forces. he says that could also prove dangerous. >> the hard truth is we have not seen the end of american sacrifice in iraq. but make no mistake -- our commitment in iraq is changing from a military effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats. >> the president says after the iraq drawdown is complete, there will be fewer troops deployed to both of those regions than when we took office last year. a lot of manufacturers are

claiming their products are green. but how can you tell if they are true? and produce ends up in the street when a driver takes off from his produce truck. and will the bay area warm up any time soon? meteorologist steve paulson has more. cranes left the portland of oakland this morning to start a 6,000-mile journey. we'll tell you where they are headed and why -- straight ahead.

san francisco police arrested a man for stealing a produce truck. one of two brothers making a delivery tried to stop the man before he took off. >> i walked around in front. i saw the guy in there and i swung the door open and i told the guy to get out. at the same time i'm calling my brother, he is revving the engine. my brother came around. he took off. hit my brother, knocked almost almost to the ground. >> most of the produce ended up the back door and ended up the all over the street. michael hayes says his brother was hit in the shoulder and was bruised but is otherwise okay. it's not clear why the suspect took off with the truck. a pretty dramatic site on san francisco bay today.

the port of oakland shipped off some used cranes to the port of boston. the cranes are something that boston needs that oakland no longer uses. allie rasmus is live on treasure island to explain. >> reporter: the cranes began their 6,000-mile journey about an hour ago. they are traveling at a pretty slow pace. so if we zoom in, you can still see the barge carrying the cranes. we watched as it passed under the western span of the bay bridge shortly after 11:00 this morning. the barge carrying those cranes will travel down the coast, through the panama canal and through the port of boston, their final destination. the cranes are the two white structures on either end of the barge. they are each 12 stories tall. they each weigh about 100 metric tons. they are called low-profile cranes and are used when you have a port close to an airport or a flight path. when the alameda air base shut

down, the portland of oakland had no need for them. but the port of boston is located very close to logan airport and its flight path and that's why they need the cranes. >> we're able to give these cranes to another port where they can use them. we don't have to waste the steel and work on the recycling. it's really a benefit for all of us. >> reporter: now, getting these massive structures onto the barge was a pretty hefty engineering feat. one of the engineers in charge of transportation told me, the way they did it was slid the cranes on the deck of the barge using metal platforms with soap, regular palmolive dish soap. then they welded the cranes onto the barge so they wouldn't tip over juneing the -- journey. while the port of oakland is not making money on this exchange, they add, they are sa

saving about -- they are saving about $500,000 if they had to dismantle or recycle these unused cranes. allie rasmus, ktvu channel 2 news. >> all right, thank you. a suspected drunk driver is in a bay area jail this morning while had following what witnesses -- following what witnesses describe was quite a spree. cainan sheer moments was involved in five accidents yesterday morning along danville and railroad in danville. the spree ended at montare drive. police say cainan schierholtz hit a bicyclist, a pedestrian, a truck, a light pole and an suv. he's the brother of nate schierholtz, of the san francisco giants. witnesses followed the suspect and detained him until police arrived. the bicyclist is hospitalized with cuts and bruises. cane nan schierholtz is --

cainan schierholtz is being held on bail. the media was invited for a tour of the temporary facility this morning that will serve bay area transit facilities until the new facility opens in 2017. this will be the facility for about seven years, with plenty of imprompts over the current facility. >> obviously, it's a lot cleaner than the current facility. the current facility has fallen in disrepair. there's a lot of homeless there. we have security 24-hour security -- security 24/7. >> the public is invited to the new terminal from 4:00 to 7:00. if you want a look at the old

terminal, this week is the week to do it. bp plan to start the permanent process on that leak and the static kill involves pumping mud into the top part of the well. and then will fall the bottom part being pumped with mud. turning to weather this afternoon, driving in, it was kind of interesting, steve. it was sunny and then you drove in and then the fog. >> been like that for a long time now. we're just ending our fourth consecutive month of below- normal temperatures. if you thought it was cool, it has been. i just red that reno had their

seventh seventh warmer sum -- summer. we had gusts up earlier to 20 miles an hour, even up to vallejo. so when that develops, it's hard-pressed to warm up. 20 at fairfield. temperatures are hear warming up. it's only 70 there. a lot of cloud and low -- a lot of fog and low clouds on the coast. 60s, spents around the bay -- 70s, around the bay. san francisco should be 68. 63 today. there's oakland, 6. 7, santa rosa. they've had a cool week. this week should be 82. san jose as 78. should be 84. mountain view 74, should be 78. 65 san rafael/napa. 67 only in san francisco.

san jose right at 70. livermore/concord, 70 and palo alto 67. i think their there is 5. you can find some heat down on the desert. but a lot of tropical clouds kind of retaining. tahoe this morning was 34 degrees. they are now 73. there's reno's 83. ukiah 81 and sacramento only 77. a lot of tropical moisture, monsoon moisture but staying down into southern california, southern nevada. for us another system is digging down here. that starts tuesday night into wednesday. it will carry us right into probably thursday. so clearing back to the coast. cool days ahead. low crowds, drizzle, be back tonight. thick, morning fog continues to be with us. that's not much of a change the i did go with a few brief 90s. antioch and also out to brentwood. stockton is 80. it will be close. fog, sun, cool to warm. a cooler pattern,

wednesday/thursday it look like right into the end of the week. august starting cool. >> thank you, steve. >> you bet. the man who came to fame with his television "sing along with mitch." mitch miller first went on in the air in 1961. ♪ >> miller would encourage his audience to following the balancing ball. he died in a new york hospital after a short illness. he was 99 years old. you might have noticed more and more cleaning products showing up on store shelves with the words "green" or "natural." but a lot of consumers wonder if this can trust the label. now the national products association has developed a set of standards for temperaturing if -- determining if the products are safe. >> the national product association's criteria for the natural home care certification, the product has

to be at least 95% natural. that means the ingredients come from renewable ingredients, such as plants or mineral-based ingredients. >> last year approximately 13,000 products were introduced with the word "natural" in their names, making things even more confusing for customers. coming up -- passengers of a discount airline were surprised to learn about a new fee they will now have to pay. we'll explain.

spirit airlines says some people have been surprised now that passengers are charged a fee for carry-on luggage. they just started between $20 and $45 for any item too big to fit under a seat. spirit will have extra workers on duty to help passengers the first few days to feed up boarding. the spirit airline officials believe the new fee will eventually lead to faster boardings. the united emirates plans to block some blackberry functions which could hurt some countries to be an international hub. they say blackberries can be a security risk because they can be moved out of the country. they have a strong following,

not only with foreign officials but with young people. this coming friday, oakland mayor ron dellums will announce whether he will run another term. friday is the deadline to enter the race. so far, he's not ruled out running for reelection but he hasn't confirmed it either. six other candidates have already announced their intention to run. drivers on southbound interstate 680 will soon have a faster way to move past traffic backups between pleasanton and milpitas. if you sign up for a fast track account teen now and october 20th. you will receive a toll credit to use on the new 680 express lane, set to open next month. this will be the first one in northern california and it's scheduled to open september 20th between highways 84 and 237. coming up on the news at 5:00 -- health investigators are warning that children face an alarmingly high risk of an didn'tal poisoning from a

common household item. astronauts aboard the international space station are struggling to fix a serious malfunction that's crippling the station's cooling system. we'll have an update from nasa. that's our next newscast, is the news at 5:00. that's gonna do it for us at noon. thank you for joining us. hope you have a great day and we'll see you at 5:00.