The Janus v. AFSCME Decision and What It Means to CAPE Members

Dear Fellow CAPE Members,

By now you may have heard about a U.S. Supreme Court decision that came down today in a case known as Janus v. AFSCME.

The nation's highest court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Mark Janus, an Agency Fee payer and public sector employee in Chicago. The decision takes away a union's ability to collect Agency Fees, also known as Fair Share fees, from those who are not full dues-paying members in represented units. This decision affects all public sector unions across the country, including the California Association of Professional Employees.

What this decision means is that CAPE can no longer collect Fair Share fees from L.A. County employees working in CAPE-represented bargaining units. They are Non-Members, meaning they receive representation (excluding civil service) and other services, but are not paying dues. These Non-Members can at any time join CAPE. There is nothing in this decision that says they cannot.

This case is meant to stop public sector unions like CAPE from representing the rights of hard-working civil servants across the country and take away our bargaining strength. It's up to us - the members of CAPE - to never let that happen.

For more than 50 years, CAPE has represented public sector professionals in Los Angeles County. This decision doesn't stop us from continuing the work CAPE and its member leadership set out half a century ago to do. If anything, this attack by anti-union organizations is a rallying call for all of us to take pride in our union, the work we do and the victories we have achieved.

Now more than ever, membership in CAPE counts - not only because of this decision, but because we are entering our collective bargaining with the County.

We've already seen over the last couple of months Agency Fee payers - many of them long-time fee payers - signing up to become full members of CAPE. As a CAPE member, we encourage you to share with your Non-Member colleagues the benefits of union membership and the importance of strength in numbers as we enter negotiations.

Click here for our membership information flier.

In Solidarity,

The Board of Directors for the California Association of Professional Employees