Achieving new wage and working condition contract agreements before the existing contracts expire is among the surest ways for County management to guarantee labor peace in Los Angeles County. CAPE members' Salary Contracts expire at midnight on September 30, 2015 and the clock is ticking.
On Monday, September 14th, the CAPE Negotiating Teams representing Appraisers, Engineering Technicians, and Professional Engineers met in formal bargaining sessions with County CEO negotiators expecting to make significant progress toward an overall Salary Contract agreement. Unfortunately, after negotiating late into the night, the CAPE Teams and County CEO negotiators remain far apart on some critical issues.
At this late juncture in the contract negotiations, something must change quickly in the CEO's approach if we are to reach an overall agreement by the deadline. The CAPE Negotiating Teams have made it clear they will go beyond the contract expiration deadline if necessary to ensure the best possible outcome for CAPE members.
COLA & SALARY INEQUITIES STATUS: Since the CAPE Teams first received the offer from County negotiators of a 9% cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) package for CAPE members back in June, the negotiations have moved at a snail's pace. The CAPE Teams maintained for months that although a 9% COLA package is significant compared to past negotiating cycles, it is not enough to restore what employees lost during the Great Recession and keep pace with the high cost of living in southern California. The County must do better.
The CAPE Teams expect a 10% COLA package offer soon for all CAPE-represented employees. During the contract negotiations on September 14th, CEO negotiators refused to put a 10% COLA package offer on the bargaining table for CAPE members, claiming they lacked authority to do so. Nothing less would be acceptable.
The CAPE Teams also continue to push at the bargaining table for accelerated pay raise implementation dates, a shorter term contract, and the opportunity to start negotiations sooner for the next bargaining cycle.
Several CAPE-represented employee groups from DPW and other departments made substantive presentations to County management during these negotiations to correct salary inequities in their ranks. Representatives from the CEO's office categorically denied the CAPE members' requests stating, in essence, that as long as the work is getting done, even if it is getting done by contract workers, there is no problem. The CAPE members' salary inequity and other operational concerns deserve closer examination by the departments and subsequent reconsideration by the CEO's office.
UNIT WORKING CONDITION AND OTHER ISSUES: In addition to the COLA and salary inequity issues above, major issues regarding CAPE members' career paths, working conditions and job safety have yet to be resolved, and the CAPE Teams are pursuing solutions.
At Department of Public Works (DPW), for example, management continues to use increasing numbers of non-union, contract employees to perform CAPE members' work while allowing permanent staff levels to dwindle. Quality suffers when professional employees' work is contracted out, as does the career path for CAPE members whose promotional opportunities are cutoff by the contract workers. The contracting out must be curtailed.
DPW management is also refusing to support a CAPE Negotiating Team proposal for annual reimbursement for the cost of safety boots for field employees, even though many CAPE members work alongside other employees in the field who receive such reimbursement.
Assessor management representatives, by contrast, are somewhat more engaged in the negotiations than DPW managers. For example, CAPE Appraiser members have been pushing for several years, including during these negotiations, to increase entry-level pay for Appraisers. Recently, Assessor management representatives at the bargaining table have shown interest in working with CAPE's Appraiser Team on a plan to make it happen. Other proposals such as special pay practices and bonuses for certain special assignments are now being discussed. All of the issues remain unresolved, but at least the Assessor's representatives are engaged in considering possible solutions to some of the employees' concerns.
The next formal negotiating session for the CAPE Appraisers Team will occur Monday, September 21st. The next session for the Professional Engineers & Engineering Technicians Team will occur Monday, September 28th when the Appraisers team is likely to reconvene as well. We will continue to keep CAPE members informed.