Through Our Union, We Are Creating Bold, Progressive Change in Our Workplace and Beyond

By Marissa Alayna Navarro, president of CAP Union

Marissa Alayna Navarro

I currently work in my dream job as a research assistant on the higher education team at the Center for American Progress (CAP). As a Black-Xicana, first generation college student, I know the challenges associated with pursuing a higher education and how to support those from underrepresented communities finish their bachelor's degrees. At CAP, I get to do work I’m passionate about by advocating for policy solutions that help others from marginalized backgrounds attend college.

I deeply value the work I do at CAP, which is why I’m committed to making CAP a better place to work. CAP has the opportunity to be a leader to other prestigious nonprofits by living its values as an employer. Through CAP Union, where I serve as president, my coworkers and I are using our collective power to reach this goal. 

CAP has been a challenging place to work for those who don’t come from privilege, but our union is changing this. CAP is headquartered in Washington, D.C., one of the most expensive cities in the country, where the cost of rent, food, bills, and other necessities makes living on low wages nearly impossible. By negotiating to increase salary floors and for annual pay raises, CAP Union is dedicated to ensuring our members receive a livable wage that allows us to support ourselves and recognizes the value of our labor. We are also working with management to create opportunities for advancement to curb turnover among junior staff. Through wage and promotion improvements, we are building on the diversity provisions in our past contracts and creating an equitable and inclusive organization where workers want to stay. 

As policy-focused, think-tank employees, CAP workers want to develop expertise, build on our work, and establish a professional reputation in our areas of interest. Unfortunately, too often junior staff at prestigious policy and advocacy institutions lack the opportunities necessary to accomplish this. For those who are given the chance to do policy work, they are rarely given credit for their contributions. Through our union, we are working to fix this at CAP. We’ve come to a tentative agreement with management to express our authorship on research documents and policy publications. By having our work publicly recognized, we will be able to display our accomplishments and gain the respect we deserve in our specific policy spaces. 

Like many workers, most of us at CAP have been working remotely for the last two years without missing a beat. As states and municipalities across the country, including Washington, D.C., ease restrictions related to COVID-19, many employers are calling employees back to their physical workplaces. With our union, we, the workers, have a say in the terms of returning to the office. We also have the ability to revisit our work-from-home policies that were crafted before COVID-19 and do not fit our current needs. At CAP, we are working with management to implement policies that protect our health and safety and provide us with the continued flexibility we deserve.

I know due to the strength of our union that we will create a fair, inclusive, and progressive workplace at CAP. My fellow CAP Union board members and I have been working for months to secure gains for our members at the bargaining table, and I have no doubt we will win a contract that makes CAP a better place to work. I came to CAP because I’m passionate about progressive change, and through CAP Union we are making real improvements that help raise standards in the entire nonprofit sector.