The California Association of Professional Employees (CAPE, AFL-CIO) is the bargaining unit for more than 2,500 professional employees of the County of Los Angeles.
We are a successful and thriving union, but a strong contract means little if members aren’t aware of our rights in the workplace and empowered to exercise them.
In this issue, we look back at the amazing work and incredible victories secured during the fall and winter of 2023, discuss helpful tips when considering retirement, and gear up for CAPE’s 60th Anniversary in 2024.
CAPE members’ salary and working conditions contracts with Los Angeles County will expire September 30, 2015. Since early April, the CAPE Bargaining Teams have conducted more than a dozen formal negotiating sessions with management representatives over terms for successor contracts. Although the CAPE Teams have made good progress toward achieving a fair cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) pay increase for CAPE-represented employees, there is still much work to do.
County Coalition of Union (CCU) representatives, led by CAPE Counsel Blaine Meek, continued talks this month with County officials aimed at securing a successor Fringe Benefits agreement to provide more than 40,000 County workers with sick days, vacation days, retirement contributions, the County's contribution to the Choices medical benefits, and the County's contributions to the Horizons deferred compensation program. The current Fringe Benefit agreement, which is negotiated with County officials separately from the Salary Contracts, expires next month on September 30, 2015.
The 2015 CAPE Membership Meeting and Dinner occurred the evening of Thursday, July 23rd at Quiet Cannon in Montebello. More than 450 CAPE members and guests attended and helped welcome Featured Keynote Speaker, Honorable Hilda Solis, Supervisor, First District, Los Angeles County.
CAPE members' current Salary (Bargaining Unit) and Fringe Benefits contracts with Los Angeles County will expire at midnight on September 30, 2015. The Unit Salary contracts are negotiated by the CAPE Bargaining Teams. The Fringe Benefits contract is negotiated by the Coalition of County Unions (CCU), an alliance of ten unions including CAPE representing the combined interests of nearly 35,000 County employees in fringe benefits and various county-wide employee relations issues.
The Coalition of County Unions (CCU) and CAPE representatives there remain hard at work negotiating the terms of a successor Fringe Benefits contract for CAPE represented employees.
The County's contribution to the Choices medical and dental programs, County funding of the Horizons deferred compensation plan, CAPE members' pensions and retiree healthcare programs, and your important sick, vacation, and holiday time provisions are just a few of the many important benefits being negotiated at the Fringe Benefits contract bargaining table.
During the 2015 round of contract negotiations, CAPE is determined to achieve a fair across-the-board COLA increase package for CAPE members, one that restores the purchasing power lost during the Great Recession. Other major goals include reducing DPW Management's use of contract employees, gaining more influence over changes to members' work schedules, improving special pay practices, and expanding training opportunities for CAPE-represented employees.
On Monday, June 1st, CAPE-member volunteers representing several professional-employee job classification series will present their best arguments to LA County Management representatives for fixing salary inequities and various operational problems in their ranks.
Like CAPE members’ Salary Contracts, the Fringe Benefits Contract covering important benefit provisions for CAPE-represented employees is scheduled to expire September 30, 2015. The Fringe Benefit Contract is negotiated by all of the affiliated County employee associations, including CAPE, as part of the Coalition of County Unions (CCU).
