I am a Senior Environmental Scientist with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and have been with the state and a CAPS member for 3 years. I am running for head steward in District 3

I was in academia before joining the state, and spent most of my working life not having a union. It was incredibly frustrating to experience poor conditions and have no effective way to change them. Being part of CAPS has been a great way to use my time and energy to fight for better salaries and working conditions and actually get results. On the broader scale, I believe that an active union is critical both to get victories for ourselves as state scientists, but also to shift our mindset to work in solidarity with other workers and unions in order to push for a better society for us all.

In my time with CAPS I have worked with fellow members across departments and Sacramento on day-to-day steward type work including contract enforcement as well as mobilizing broadly to fight for our rights and benefits.  I’ve helped organize the West Sac CDFW solidarity break with Julea Shaw, a twice a week meeting where folks come together to discuss issues, answer each other's questions, and learn about our rights and how to defend them.  I believe these meetings are key to building the practice of scientists pooling our experience and knowledge to help each other, and as a stepping stone for members to participate in larger union actions.

Soon after affiliation with UAW, I joined the District 3 Member Support Team which handles member questions and issues.  I’ve worked with members on Reasonable Accommodations requests, Hardship Transfer requests due to bullying, as well as helping members file grievances and supporting them in grievance meetings. 

The benefits of telework for us as workers and for the environment is something I feel very strongly about. I’ve been a member of the CAPS Return To Office working group since 2024. This year, I spoke at a cross-union RTO rally, commented at legislative budget subcommittee hearings, and talked to legislative staff to push for funding our salaries and stopping the 4-day in-office mandate.  I also was on the CDFW Meet and Confer team that fought for improvements to the Department’s telework policy. 

As a head steward I will collaborate with fellow District 3 head stewards and local stewards to ensure that every member is represented by a steward, has access to a solidarity break and that new members get a timely orientation to CAPS-UAW. I will support District 3 local stewards so they have the knowledge and resources they need to help other members with their issues, and can effectively mobilize for mass actions. I am looking forward to helping build CAPS-UAW into a strong, nimble, fighting union so we can build on our wins.

TL:DR  I’ve done a lot of nitty gritty steward type work and fought hard against the state and CalHR for our contract and to protect telework. I am looking forward to helping build CAPS into a strong, nimble, fighting union so we can build on our wins.