The Coalition of County Unions (CCU) and CAPE representatives there remain hard at work negotiating the terms of a successor Fringe Benefits contract for CAPE represented employees.

The County's contribution to the Choices medical and dental programs, County funding of the Horizons deferred compensation plan, CAPE members' pensions and retiree healthcare programs, and your important sick, vacation, and holiday time provisions are just a few of the many important benefits being negotiated at the Fringe Benefits contract bargaining table.

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.

On Monday, June 1st, CAPE-member volunteers representing several professional-employee job classification series will present their best arguments to LA County Management representatives for fixing salary inequities and various operational problems in their ranks.

Like CAPE members’ Salary Contracts, the Fringe Benefits Contract covering important benefit provisions for CAPE-represented employees is scheduled to expire September 30, 2015. The Fringe Benefit Contract is negotiated by all of the affiliated County employee associations, including CAPE, as part of the Coalition of County Unions (CCU).

The contract that controls pay and working conditions for CAPE members expires on September 30, 2015, but preparations for this year's Salary Contract negotiations are already well underway. The demand letter to commence formal negotiations was sent to County officials in March, along with CAPE’s initial proposals for the negotiations.  

The contract agreement that governs CAPE members' fringe benefits, such as the County's contribution to Choices family health care coverage and Horizons, the deferred compensation matching contribution program, are negotiated collectively with all of the CCU-affiliated county employee associations sitting across the bargaining table from County management representatives.

With negotiations starting this year on both our Salary Contract and our Fringe Benefit Contract, it's important that CAPE members know who is making the decisions on proposals from management's side.

Ultimately, it is the five members of the County Board of Supervisors that gives direction on what we'll see at the negotiations table.  Likewise, they will vote to ratify whatever agreement we eventually secure at the table.

On November 10, 2014, the CAPE Negotiating Team for the Technical Support Bargaining Unit and Sanitation Districts’ management met with a State Mediator to attempt to bridge the current gap between the parties over the terms of a successor Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Unit’s employees. 

The contracts that govern CAPE members’ salary and working conditions, as well as fringe benefits, will both expire at midnight on September 30, 2015. The preparations are already underway to assemble the economic data and pay comparisons to present the best possible salary contract proposal to County representatives next year.

Early this year, after several rounds of difficult and contentious negotiations, the CAPE Negotiating Team for the Technical Support Bargaining Unit reached a Tentative Agreement (TA) with Sanitation Districts’ management for a successor MOU for their Unit. The TA, however, did not garner the required majority vote of the membership for approval.