Code for America’s goal is to become one of the first tech nonprofit organizations to complete the collective bargaining process with a recognized union partner, as we continue to serve our mission.
Code for America is proud to have one of the highest compensation packages within the nonprofit sector, and we are proud of the culture that we’ve built and the benefits that we all enjoy. This includes great healthcare coverage, 401k plans, paid time off, sabbaticals, wellness plans, family leave, and professional development.
We are grateful to CfA Workers United for the thoughtful proposals to help strengthen our organization and continue to make Code for America an incredible place to work. Through our negotiations, we’ve been able to craft proposals that keep us on the leading edge of compensation and benefits for nonprofit tech organizations like ours.
From the beginning of negotiations, we’ve been committed to bargaining in good faith to reach a mutually beneficial Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). We have met regularly since we voluntarily agreed to recognize the union and so far, we have achieved eight tentative agreements. Our goal is to reach an agreement that continues to provide our staff with a best-in-class total package of compensation and benefits, maintains the operational flexibility necessary to respond responsibly to the various and evolving challenges that confront our organization, and allows us to achieve our important mission that helps millions of people across the country.
Code for America remains committed to the negotiation process. We are currently focused on defining which roles are union-eligible—for both current and future employees—utilizing the tools, processes, and expertise provided by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Going to the NLRB to help us define the union was a step that CWU recommended and that we could all agree with. At the time of voluntary recognition, 43% of Code for America positions were determined to be in the union. The organization has nearly doubled in size since then but today, the number of uncontested positions remains roughly the same: 40%.
By law, the bargaining unit cannot include certain types of employees. Both management and CfA Workers United recognize that there will be a significant number of positions decided by the NLRB, as the experts in the field of bargaining unit definition. We now have approximately 50 positions—a significant portion of our entire organization–that need clarification on whether they should be in or out of the union. That number of positions greatly affects the economic and operational impacts on the organization. We are now evaluating which of the remaining proposals we can continue to negotiate in the absence of clarity on unit definition. It’s critical to get NLRB clarification on which roles will be in the union, as this affects several proposals that will be a part of the CBA and will have implications for how Code for America operates once a CBA has been reached.
We look forward to continuing the CBA process to reach a timely, sustainable agreement so that, together, we can continue to fulfill our mission of making government services work better for millions of people in our nation.