Contract Bargaining Update: CAPE Representatives Return to the Bargaining Table in 2013

Membership Survey, Bargaining Team Selection

CAPE representatives will return to the bargaining table this year to discuss salary and fringe benefit contract terms with County officials. To make sure our team presents the best proposals, the CAPE Board of Directors set a course early this year to take input from members and to assemble the contract bargaining teams to represent all six CAPE Los Angeles County bargaining units.

Membership Survey:  In late January, CAPE members received notice of the 2013 CAPE Online Membership Contract Negotiations Survey to convey their preferences and priorities for the 2013 negotiations with County officials. The survey deadline was February 28th.  Membership participation in the survey was high.  The official survey results will be reported to the CAPE Negotiating Teams during their team orientation on March 27th.

Bargaining Team Selection:  The CAPE Board of Directors reviewed the members’ Volunteer Forms and made their 2013 CAPE Contract Negotiations Team selections in February. All of the volunteers have since been notified of the Team selections.  The Board thanks each and every member volunteer for their willingness to step up and serve their fellow Los Angeles County professional employees as a member of the 2013 CAPE Contract Negotiations Team.  Team Orientation is scheduled for March 27th, to be followed by proposal development and bargaining strategy sessions in April and May.  The CAPE bargaining proposals are due to County officials no later than May 30th.

It’s been more than four years without a pay increase, and L.A. County employees have made sacrifices.  Most agree that the County’s financial condition has remained stable enough to support a fair, and overdue, across-the-board cost-of-living-adjustment for the dedicated workforce that helped the County survive the economic downturn. Working against our position, however, is the continued strong headwind of public sentiment that public employees still have not given enough back to taxpayers.

CAPE’s representatives will take all of these issues and much more into account as they prepare to make their formal contract proposals to County officials later this year.