CAP Union Members Vote to Use Any Means Necessary to Secure a Fair Contract, Putting a Strike on the Table

The staff union at the Center for American Progress (CAP) announced its membership voted to reject CAP management’s most recent offer on starting salaries and annual raises and to allow their collective bargaining agreement to expire. With this vote, union members are authorizing the union bargaining team to call for any action necessary to secure a fair contract, up to and including work stoppages. The CAP Union is part of the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU/IFPTE Local 70), and this is the first time in the history of NPEU and the history of CAP Union that members have voted to put a strike on the table. 

“Our membership has kept us at the table to try and work with management’s bargaining team to reach an agreement that would ensure fair wages,” said CAP Union President Marissa Alayna Navarro. “However, despite any qualitative or quantitative arguments we have made they refuse to put more money on the table to pay their staff a fair, progressive, and competitive wage.”

Following the expiration of the previously extended collective bargaining agreement on Jan. 31, a virtual ballot opened on Feb. 1 giving members an opportunity to vote to accept or reject management’s proposal. With 88% of members participating in the election, 98.7% voted to reject the woefully inadequate proposals from management and provide the CAP Union Board with the authority to use all tools available to them to reach a fair and just agreement.

“For too long, the Center for American Progress has professed to hold progressive values while paying their junior staff unsustainable wages,” said NPEU President Katie Barrows. “Our members overwhelmingly agree and have spoken with a strong unified voice in rejecting a proposal that would continue to drive dedicated, diverse staff members out of the organization. No union wants to ask its members to go on strike, but withholding labor is a critical tool we must put on the table if CAP management continues to refuse to recognize the value of their staff. NPEU and all of IFPTE is proud to stand with and support the CAP Union.”

Union members at CAP have been asked to go above and beyond for the last few years - continue to produce high-quality, groundbreaking research and policy while dealing with the impacts of the global pandemic, living in one of the most expensive metro areas in the country, and receiving salaries that continue to lag behind those offered at CAP’s peer organizations. The CAP Union and NPEU call on CAP management to return to the negotiating table with a proposal that recognizes the impact of these factors and values the work of their employees.

2/2/2022 - Center For American Progress Staffers Threaten To Strike Amid Contract Fight (Huffington Post)