The California Association of Professional Employees (CAPE, AFL-CIO) is the bargaining unit for more than 2,500 professional employees of the County of Los Angeles.
We are a successful and thriving union, but a strong contract means little if members aren’t aware of our rights in the workplace and empowered to exercise them.
In this issue, we look back at the amazing work and incredible victories secured during the fall and winter of 2023, discuss helpful tips when considering retirement, and gear up for CAPE’s 60th Anniversary in 2024.
CAPE welcomed Leslie Simmons on October 5 as its new communications & field services director. In her role, Simmons is overseeing the internal and external communication for the union, including member-to-member communication and education, social media, media relations, legislative activity and more. She fills the vacancy left with the departure of Sean Stalbaum.
The 2016 CAPE Career Track Scholarship was formally presented to the 2016 winner at a hearing of the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors late last year. The winner, Joe Popovits, is a Mechanical Engineering student at Cal State Los Angeles.
Staff at the Department of Regional Planning are now on the receiving end of more training and professional development, thanks to the hard work of CAPE leadership, including Board Member Jonathan P. Bell, and CAPE Business Agent Timothy Farrell.
As an outgrowth of contract negotiations, Bell, Farrell, CAPE member Tim Stapleton, and CAPE Delegate Josh Huntington at DRP, have been regularly meeting with management via the Joint Labor Management Committee (JLMC) to devise ways to enhance field safety for CAPE-represented Zoning Enforcement Planners.
CAPE staff recently visited Department of Public Works members at Longden Yard in Arcadia at the end of their surveyor shift. Most of the members’ day is spent out in the field supporting several divisions throughout Los Angeles County.
The surveyors are currently assisting the Flood Maintenance Division by measuring and monitoring dam structures, seismic movements and volume capacities to ensure residents and properties downstream from flood control facilities are safe, dry, and free from mudslides and debris flow.
The Assessor’s Office has admitted a manager violated the Employee Relations Ordinance when he demanded that CAPE members waive their right to receive additional compensation for performing work outside their classification as a condition for transferring to his unit.
Correction: In the print version of this article in the Winter/Spring 2017 newsletter, the retroactive date and year was incorrect. The bonuses are retroactive to January 2016.
For CAPE members Luis Orendain and Robert Cooney, December was a great month for bonuses.
DO YOU USE YOUR PERSONAL PHONE OR COMPUTER FOR YOUR WORK?
Watch Out! Your Comments Could Subject You to Discipline or Cause Problems at Work!
A new state Supreme Court decision published March 2, 2017 (City of San Jose v. Superior Court) held that any records (emails, texts, etc.) on public employees' private phones, computers or servers that relate to public business are public records and may be disclosed under the California Public Records Act.