Code for America reaches tentative agreement with worker’s union, averting strike
On Wednesday, the civic tech nonprofit Code for America announced it’s reached a new, tentative collective bargaining agreement its union, CfA Workers United, averting a strike following weeks of negotiations.
The new bargaining conversations kicked off several months ago ahead of previous contract’s expiration. The first union contract was finalized in October of 2023 and in place through Jan. 1 of this year, though negotiations resulted in an extension of collective bargaining through Tuesday. Both CfA and the union on Wednesday called the new collective bargaining agreement satisfactory, as it keeps intact several key benefits found in the first the contract, like 17 weeks of paid parental leave, 80% coverage of dependent healthcare, layoff protections and sabbatical benefits.
It also includes an annual budget for professional development; artificial intelligence training; fertility and adoption benefits; and paid parental leave. The agreement will go to union members for a vote next week.
Both groups said the new contract “reflects our shared commitment to our staff, our mission and the people we serve,” and maintains benefits such as remote work, health insurance options, open PTO and a “strong and flexible” 401(k) plan.
“Our work is more important than ever, and it’s powered by the people at the heart of our organization – product and program managers, engineers, designers, researchers and client success staff – who work shoulder-to-shoulder with government partners and clients every day,” Amanda Renteria, Code for America’s chief executive, said in a statement. “We’re excited to continue the critical work of making public benefits more accessible to the individuals and families that need them.”
Zachary Antoyan, a CfA Workers United bargaining committee member, said the union was also pleased.
“CfA Workers United is pleased to have avoided a strike while coming to an agreement that preserves health care benefits, a major priority for our bargaining unit,” Antoyan said in a statement. “We look forward to getting back to our important work and improving government services across the country.”
The lengthy negotiations were primarily caused by disagreements about how to handle management’s proposed cutbacks to benefits, including lower pay increases, an altered paid-time-off system and reduced leave. Union member Lynley Closson said the groups reached an impasse over the cutbacks, leading the union to vote for a strike if an agreement could not be reached. She said management claimed that some benefits weren’t feasible due to general economic instability across most government-supported nonprofits.
“We had heard in the last couple of months that those [benefits] weren’t possible for management because of the economic uncertainty that’s happened,” Closson said in an interview, adding that in lieu of guaranteed the pay raises over the next few years found in the first contract, the union conceded to one-time bonuses. “That’s why our team is willing to take some limited concessions, knowing that philanthropy is changing, nonprofit structures are changing, government is changing and how it works and what they’re able to fund, too.”
Closson said that although the union had no desire to strike, the organization’s management’s initial unwillingness to compromise led to the union’s vote.
With negotiations over, she said, all involved share a commitment to serving government clients and “the American people.”
“We don’t take any delight in a strike. … At the end of the day, we all really care about our clients,” she said. “We already really care about the services that we do, and it’s, frankly, more rigorous than it’s ever been. All of [this] is about maintaining our current package or something close to it in order to do the hard work. We want to do it. We know our team wants to do it too.”
