History of CAPS. You hear it about CAPS regularly, “a union created by State Scientists for State Scientists,” but what does that really mean? CAPS was established in 1984 by State Scientists who wanted to ensure that their voice was not lost among the cacophony of other units who were also represented by the same union at the time. The result: CAPS. Take a look at CAPS’ history here.
Start checking your mailbox! CAPS Board of Directors’ Election Ballots were mailed to every State Scientist on Friday, September 20th. Members will receive a ballot with instructions for how to fill it out and return it, and nonmembers will receive the same, but with an extra piece – a membership application. Only members may vote in CAPS’ elections. If you do not receive your ballot by this Friday, September 27th, contact CAPS (caps@capsscientists.org) to request a duplicate ballot ASAP! Voting will take place by secret ballot via U.S. mail, and returned ballots will be held in a P.O. Box owned by MK Elections, the independent elections service administering the election. Your ballot must be returned to the P.O. Box before the ballots are picked up for the ballot count on Monday, October 14, 2019.
MOU Section 7.7 Side Letter Executed. Your CAPS Bargaining Team and CalHR executed a side letter last week, clarifying the language set forth in the Section to ensure classifications that qualify are switched to Work Week Group 2 for the duration of their assignment to an Incident Command Structure. Now, Veterinarians, Toxicologists, Research Scientist II, III and IV, and Staff Chemists at CDFW and CDFA will qualify for overtime for the duration of their assignment to an incident. See the side letter here: https://capsscientists.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/CAPS-Executed-Side-Letter-Section-7.7B.pdf
News Briefs
Newsom bucks his party on water. It had to happen sooner or later. At some point, California’s “resistance” to President Donald Trump would move beyond flowery rhetoric, tweets and lawsuits and seriously affect Californians. It happened in the wee hours of Saturday September 21st, just before the Legislature adjourned for the year. Lawmakers approved Senate Bill 1, the self-described California Environmental, Public Health and Workers Defense Act of 2019, and Governor Gavin Newsom immediately signaled that he would veto it.
These California pension and perk bills had broad support. Why didn’t they reach Newsom? Three bills that would change California law to benefit public workers received broad support in the Legislature over the last year, but at the last minute didn’t reach Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. The bills would have made cities responsible for mistakes that inflate retirees’ pensions, expanded workers’ compensation benefits, and given broad legal privileges to communications between unions and workers.