Contract Bargaining Special Update: CAPE Bargaining Teams Extend Unit and Fringe Benefit Contracts, Win Key Increases in Benefits - 7/3/12

The contracts that control pay and working conditions for the Los Angeles County bargaining units represented by CAPE are set to expire on September 30, 2012. As always, your Bargaining Team's first and highest priority is to protect the current pay, benefits, and retirement calculations for all CAPE-represented workers. Given the current economic conditions, problems with the State budget, prevailing attitudes toward public employees, and other factors, your Teams determined a one year extension of the Salary (Unit) Contracts was in the best interests of CAPE members. In deciding to pursue a one year extension, CAPE members' comments and suggestions played a chief role in helping the Teams make this decision.

With the decision made to extend the Unit Contracts for 1 year, attention was turned to our Fringe Benefits Contract. On Tuesday, July 3rd, CAPE and the County Coalition of Unions, (CCU) met with County officials and reached a Tentative Agreement to extend our Fringe Benefits Contracts an additional year, through September 2013. The Tentative Agreement includes another increase of 7.2% towards the County contribution for health and dental care and restores the full 4% match for the Horizons thrift plan.

Going into negotiations, the CAPE bargaining team representatives, including CAPE President Carlos Clayton, Board Member John Fallon, and CCU Chair and CAPE Counsel Blaine Meek knew it would be tough to negotiate in this economic climate and with the County facing future economic uncertainty.

Fortunately, the effort that the Bargaining Team put into these Fringe Benefits negotiations paid off. CAPE President and negotiations team member Carlos Clayton said, "It was our goal going into these negotiations to not only make sure our members' increased health care costs were covered, but to also restore the four percent Horizons match from the County. Today, I'm very proud to report that we managed to achieve all of our objectives."