August/September CAPSule Issue 06-2024

On August 23, our CAPS-UAW Board of Directors announced that we ratified the Total Tentative Agreement reached with the State! The outcome came after 91% of our rank-and-file members – a record for our union – participated in the vote, and an overwhelming 97% voted “yes.”

Once the Legislature ratifies the agreement and appropriates the funds for it, and the governor signs that legislation, the agreement becomes our new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), commonly called our “contract.” You can read the entire MOU here or review a summary of highlights here.

While our new contract is an incredibly significant moment for our union and a powerful measure of our solidarity and strength, it also signals new challenges we must collectively address. A contract is only as meaningful as its enforcement, so together we must be vigilant to ensure our employer upholds their end of the agreement. So familiarize yourself with the provisions of your contract, join upcoming Know Your Rights meetings, and immediately report MOU violations here.

Now that we have ratified our TTA, our CAPS-UAW Supervisors Committee will request to meet and confer with the administration to urge that benefits rank-and-file employees won collectively through bargaining are extended to the supervisors and managers we also represent. These benefits include Geopay, Longevity Pay, and State Disability Insurance. The Supervisors Committee will prioritize extending the salary raises to “not yet” Like Pay for Like Work (LPLW) classifications that have not received the same raises (e.g., the recent 2% increase in July) as their LPLW colleagues. 

We will continue strengthening our union and deploying our collective power in the days, weeks, and months ahead. We will increase our outreach to State Scientists who are not yet CAPS-UAW members and educate them about how our union empowers workers to advocate for themselves and their colleagues. We will politically organize to support our friends and oppose those who are against workers organizing and exercising collective power. And, of course, we will renew our work to secure a truly equitable MOU when our new agreement expires on July 1, 2027. 

This contract isn’t the end … it’s the beginning.