News

CAPE Board Election 2025

The election for the CAPE Board of Directors is approaching soon.  This year, the two-year terms of five (5) Board Directors must be filled.

Pride Month CAPE Virtual Backgrounds

June is Pride Month, a time to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community's diversity, resilience, and achievements. CAPE is proud to be a union that fights for the rights and well-being of everyone, and we're proud to stand with our LGBTQI+ colleagues and allies.

Together, We Rebuild, Support, and Fight for Our Future

In the aftermath of the devastating California wildfires, we find ourselves grappling with a profound sense of loss and resilience. Many in our CAPE family have faced unimaginable hardships as homes and livelihoods were reduced to ashes.

Attacks on Public Employee Pensions Likely Through 2012 Elections

Attacks on public employee pensions continue to surface from a variety of sources in an even wider variety of venues. CAPE members are, by now, familiar with the attempts by pension reform advocates to place pension-cutting proposals on the ballot for voter approval. All of the ballot measures submitted so far have failed to secure the necessary number of signatures, but enough time still remains to submit, circulate and qualify initiatives for the November 2012 Presidential Election ballot.

Unit & Fringe Benefit Contract Negotiations Preparations Continue

The current Bargaining Unit contracts controlling salary and working conditions for all CAPE members will expire on September 30, 2012, which is the same expiration date for the Fringe Benefit contract for all Los Angeles County employees. CAPE bargaining team members met for the 2nd time on April 11 to continue their preparations, including orientation to the collective bargaining process and an in-depth analysis of the current negotiations environment for public employees.

2012 Salary and Benefit Contracts Negotiations Ahead

Public sector collective bargaining rights are under serious attack. All across the nation, public employees and their unions are being wrongfully blamed for public agency budget deficits. It’s as if everyone has forgotten that it was Wall Street not Main Street; and definitely not public employees, who brought our nation’s economy to the brink of collapse.

Public Employee Pension Attack Update:

Last fall the Governor issued a 12-point plan he described as a starting point towards responsible public employee pension reform. The so-called “reform advocates” and public employee union representatives immediately engaged in a heated debate over what the Governor intended and which employees would, or should, be impacted by the reforms.

President’s Message
 2012 is Already an Interesting Year of Many Challenges: By Carlos Clayton, P.E. Unit 501, DPW

I was honored to be elected by my colleagues on the Board as CAPE President in September 2011. In the months since, the number and severity of challenges facing the Association, and public employees across the state, have grown exponentially.

State legislative efforts and proposed ballot measures aimed at reducing or eliminating public employee pensions are making headlines daily. Another ballot measure, already qualified for the November Presidential Election, threatens to eliminate political activities by employee groups.

DPW Construction Inspector Unit at 100% CAPE Membership!

With the struggling economy and continued high unemployment levels, the past few years have been difficult for workers everywhere. Now, more than ever, it is vital for union memberships to remain strong and united.

Overall, CAPE members deserve a great deal of credit for taking steps to increase their collective strength over the last year as we head into what could be a very difficult round of contract negotiations in 2012. Exact figures on our union’s membership growth will be shared at the upcoming Membership Meeting & Dinner on March 8th.

Public Employee Pensions from All Points of the Compass

The combination of Assemblyman Warren Furutani's Joint Legislative Committee Hearing in late October, the Governor's release of his 12-point Pension Reform Plan on October 27, and the announcement of two more ballot measures targeting public employee pensions kept the so-called pension "reformers", those attacking secure retirements for working families, on the front pages for much of the last month.

State Budget Pushes Deficits to Next Year and Pension Reform Advocates to the Ballot

State legislative leaders adopted a FY 2011-12 State Budget in June that is already out of balance by billions of dollars. The spending plan was passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor on time, but the measure anticipated $4 billion in new sales, property and income tax revenues. Unfortunately, that money has so far failed to materialize.