CAPE Members From Several Job Classification Series Ask County Management To Address Understaffing and Salary Inequities In Their Ranks

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.

In addition to the above, on Monday, June 1st, CAPE-member volunteers representing several professional-employee job classification series presented their case to LA County Management representatives for fixing the understaffing, recruitment/retention problems, and salary inequities in their ranks.

Among the CAPE-member presenters on June 1st were those representing Appraisers, Property Assessment Specialists, Traffic Checkers, Waste Control Engineering Inspectors, Telecommunications Systems Engineers, Title Examiners, Surveyors, Building Engineering Inspectors, Building Permit Technicians, and the Supervising Building & Safety Engineering Specialists and District Engineering Associates.

The causes and effects of the understaffing, recruitment/retention, and salary problems presented by CAPE members to County management officials vary group to group.

In the Department of Public Works (DPW) Building & Safety Division, for example, an aging workforce, the loss of many permanent employees due to attrition, and lack of recruitment have combined to cause serious understaffing in the inspection ranks. Rather than hire more inspectors, DPW Management has exacerbated the problem by using contract inspectors at an alarming rate. In the Building Engineering Inspection series, contract inspectors now outnumber permanent ones at several DPW field offices. The contract inspectors are higher paid, and they do not receive performance evaluations to ensure their work quality meets the high standards for public service demanded of permanent County employees.

CAPE-represented Waste Control Engineering Inspectors (WCEIs) at DPW are seeking relief as well. In their case, a perfect storm of events including increased duties mandated by the state, the loss of several employees to higher-paying positions in another County department, and management's lack of hiring in their ranks has caused untenable workloads which jeopardize the employees' ability to keep the public safe. Without relief for the WCEIs' salary inequity, DPW may not be able to recruit, train, and retain enough inspectors to address the high workloads and sufficiently protect the public against industrial polluters.

In another example from DPW, according to CAPE-represented Survey Technicians, their operations are suffering a similar fate due to the low salaries they are paid comparable to their counterparts in the surrounding market. Some Survey Technicians have already left the County for higher paying jobs, and management has failed to hire new ones. Instead, DPW Managers are once again relying on increased contracting out to bridge the gap.

CAPE-represented Title Examiners and Traffic Checkers at DPW are smaller, niche groups with aging populations who perform specialized work. In each case, most of their workers are within five years of retirement. Yet it is unclear whether DPW management has a plan for the future of those operations in LA County.

The understaffing, recruitment/retention, and salary inequity problems in the professional employee ranks are not limited to Department of Public Works.

CAPE-represented Appraisers at the LA County Assessor's Office, for example, made the case for increasing Appraisers' pay to attract more new-hires and retain top talent. Entry-level pay for LA County Appraisers currently ranks 30th among California counties. Furthermore, despite an aggressive hiring program for LA County appraisal staff, the total appraisal workforce (from Appraiser Trainee to Principal Appraiser) has declined 10.5% since 2010 while their workloads continue to increase. Bolstering Appraisers' case for higher pay and additional hiring, CAPE members also cited a management audit of the LA County Assessor's Office ordered by the Board of Supervisors in 2012 which concluded that for every $1 Los Angeles County spends on real property appraisers, the County receives $117 in property tax revenue, a whopping $1:$117 return on investment for LA County!

The Property Assessment Specialists at the Assessor's Office, meanwhile, are another small, niche group of employees performing highly specialized work who save the County money. Their legal expertize means work that would otherwise be performed by County Counsel or contracted to an expensive law firm can be done in-house by Assessor's Office staff. They need more staff to manage their workloads, yet due to most of their classifications requiring a law degree, hiring new talent in their ranks at current salaries is extremely challenging.

Finally, like many of the employee groups above, at Internal Services Department (ISD) the CAPE-represented Telecommunications Systems Engineering series is experiencing a similar shrinking workforce due to attrition and a lack of hiring. The result is an increasing workload for fewer employees. Under such circumstances, how is this group expected to continue to meet their critically important task of maintaining the County's vast and complex telecommunications networks used for disaster response and other priorities?

As the CAPE Negotiating Teams work to make progress in the above areas, make other gains in our Unit MOUs, and achieve a fair across-the-board COLA increase for all CAPE-represented employees, CAPE needs your support! Please stay tuned for future updates, and please be prepared to support your negotiating teams regarding CAPE members' important 2015 contract bargaining priorities.