On Monday, December 14, the Coalition of County Unions (CCU) reached a Tentative Agreement (T/A) with the County of Los Angeles on a sweeping contract that includes significant enhancements in paid leave – vacation and holidays – and in the County’s negotiated contribution toward our health and dental plans, The Choices Plan. Major highlights include the following:
HOLIDAYS: After many years of demanding the addition of Cesar Chavez Day as a paid holiday at the bargaining table, the County finally agreed that – beginning in 2017 – Cesar Chavez’s birthday shall now be a paid holiday celebrated on the last Monday in March. This is the first NEW paid holiday in 30 years!
VACATION ACCRUAL: Also, in honor of our tenure with the County, management agreed to our demand to increase vacation accrual for members with 20 years of service an additional eight hours per year, to a maximum of 40 additional hours of vacation with 24 years or more of service.
THE CHOICES PLAN: The County agreed to increase their contribution toward the Choices Plan according to the following schedule to cover any increases in medical and dental premiums (any amount over can be taken home as taxable cash). By 2018, your annual allowance will have increased by as much as $4,130 ($344 per month for families of 3 or more).
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The County has agreed that if they are unable to process the negotiated contribution increases by the January 2016 premium payment, they will retroactively pay the increase.
Taken as a whole, the major fringe benefits achievements mentioned above, combined with the new 10% cost-of-living-adjustment package achieved by the CAPE Bargaining Unit Teams in salary negotiations, represent the most successful contract bargaining outcome for CAPE members since the Great Recession.
If you have any questions regarding the new Fringe Benefits contract or the CAPE Bargaining Unit contract settlements with Los Angeles County, please email us at [email protected] or call the office at (626) 243-0340.