The California Association of Professional Employees (CAPE, AFL-CIO) is the exclusive bargaining unit representative for more than 2700 professional employees of the County of Los Angeles. CAPE was formed in 1964 by employees who recognized the need for fair and effective representation in their dealings with county management. CAPE's representation extends into the areas of collective bargaining of Memorandums of Understanding (work contracts), collective bargaining of Fringe Benefits, Grievances, Job-Related Legal Services, Communications, Legislative / Political Advocacy, Health Benefits, and various Member Services. The 2700 CAPE-represented employees come from seven groups within the county workforce: Unit 131 Appraisers Non-Supervisory Unit 501 Professional Engineers Unit 511 Engineering Technicians Unit 132 Supervisory Appraisers Unit 502 Supervising Professional Engineers Unit 512 Supervising Engineering Technicians