Your CAPS-UAW Supervisors Committee has met with representatives from CalHR to discuss pay and benefits for supervisory and managerial scientists. In their final decision, the State settled for a 2% General Salary Increase for excluded employees tied to Bargaining Unit 9 and no salary increase for those tied to Bargaining Unit 10*. We are disappointed with the State’s reluctance to address the needs of workers whose management is critical to the public health, environment, and good functioning of the State of California. This is the second year in a row that excluded employees tied to Bargaining Unit 10 have not received any salary increases. See the State’s June 27, 2024 Exempt and Excluded Employee Compensation memo for more details. 

The Excluded Employee Bill of Rights (EBR) guarantees your rights to participate in our union, CAPS-UAW, and meet and confer with the State for improved work conditions, however it does not allow for a traditional bargaining process (where both sides must mutually agree) like that in place for rank and file staff. 

We believe this outcome does not come close to addressing the needs of supervisors. Your CAPS-UAW Supervisors Committee made a proposal on June 17 to the State to improve wages and working conditions for ALL scientific supervisors. Read more here. The requests in that proposal included:

1. Fixing the horizontal pay inequities between the Unit 10 classifications tied to Unit 9 supervisors and managers, as a result of the Like Pay for Like Work lawsuit, and the Unit 10 classifications whose salaries have needlessly and harmfully lagged behind their peers in Unit 10 as a result of not being contemplated in the lawsuit.
2. Salary adjustments for all CAPS-UAW excluded employees in-line with inflation so that we do not fall further behind.
3. Longevity Pay to help with retention, to acknowledge the critical need for institutional knowledge, and to align with longevity pay already offered to excluded employees tied to Bargaining Unit 9, recognizing the similarities in duties being performed.
4. Geographic Pay differentials to address the recruitment and retention crisis in some of California’s most expensive regions.
5. Limits to the number of direct reports for supervisors to ensure that supervisors are not being asked to manage more employees than is reasonable and feasible.
6. Increased access to the Employee Assistance Program to support the well-being of workers.
7. Permanent office workspaces for supervisors.

Following the meet and confers, CalHR released their Exempt and Excluded Employee Compensation memo. They took a recalcitrant position in discussions about improving our working conditions. Unfortunately, our requests, which would benefit both the State and scientists, were largely ignored. What the State has chosen for supervisors instead is:

1. To increase the horizontal disparity between the classifications tied to Bargaining Unit 9 supervisors and those whose salaries are tied to Bargaining Unit 10.
2. Not to address the other proposals offered to them by the Supervisors Committee that would strengthen their scientific programs.
3. Lean into the perception that our excluded classifications are dependent on the success of ran-and-file bargaining to have their workplace needs addressed.

Going Forward:

The Supervisors Committee will continue working with the State on the aforementioned issues, and more, including potential changes to Hiring Above Minimum practices. We want to hear FROM YOU. We have developed a survey to help us focus our efforts on what’s most important to BU10 supervisors and managers. 

Clarification on Rank and File Issues

Finally, some of you may have received an email related to rank-and-file issues and bargaining. Please disregard that email. We apologize for the confusion as we update our mailing lists. 

In solidarity,

Your CAPS-UAW Supervisors Committee,

Daniel Ellis (Central Coast Water Board, chair)
Cory Copland (Bay Conservation Development Commission)
David Rist (Department of Toxic Substances Control)
Anne Cooper Doherty (Department of Toxic Substances Control)
Rachel Fabian (California Department of Fish and Wildlife)
Lorna McFarlane (CalTrans)
Edie Marshall (California Department Food and Agriculture) 

*Classifications tied to Bargaining Unit 10 are listed in the CAPS-UAW proposal to the State attached to this email. The majority of our supervisors are tied to Bargaining Unit 9 – including our largest classification Senior Environmental Scientists – and therefore will receive a 2% raise.