9/6 Weekly Email

Hi all, 

I don’t have a lot of exciting updates to share but did want to highlight a few things to keep an eye on/look into. 

First, Compassionate Leave. One of our UAEA members is currently out on FMLA and their recovery is taking longer than anticipated. They are running low on leave time so I wanted to remind people of the existence of the compassionate leave program. Yes, the compassionate leave donations are pooled in a bank but the likelihood is high that they would receive some extra time and even a few hours from just a few people could make a big difference. I should note here that something that I want to work on during my term is expanding the ways UAEA supports our members: I recognize this request is not specific to UAEA but it’s similar to the type of work I’d like to do. Unions are stronger when they operate both as a bargaining entity and a support system for their members, and expanding the resources we provide can in turn bring in new people who may have been on the fence before. The E-team and I are looking into a few ways we can expand our impact but I’m sure there are other ideas we haven’t considered: feel free to reach out if you have any ideas about what that might look like. 

Second, President Visits. I mentioned in my 8/23 email that I was scheduling visits to different divisions: I’ve now visited several, met with multiple members from across the City, and have multiple future meetings booked. That said, I still haven’t heard from a few workgroups. As a reminder, if you are interested in having me stop by your work area please feel free to reach out to joel_guy@tempe.gov or president@uaeatempe.com. Please note that visiting work areas will be far more difficult if/when UB time goes away - I would much prefer doing initial meet-and-greets now than several months in the future when my schedule may not be as flexible. 

Third, Meeting with Management. I met with Rosa for an hour this week to discuss some ongoing concerns and share my vision for UAEA. I relayed to her that some of our members feel like they don’t get the same level of interaction with management as other staff and she encouraged me to tell you that she is always open to come visit workgroups if people request her presence. She told me UAEA members should feel free to reach out to her via email to set something up: please let the Executive Team know if you experience any difficulties. 

Fourth, Member Meetings. Our next meeting for membership will be on September 12th, from 12pm-1pm at the Tempe History Museum, 809 E Southern Avenue. Please give your supervisors 48 hours or more notice if you plan to attend and let Leah Sergeant (vicepresident@uaeatempe.com) know by Tuesday, September 10th at 5PM so we can order sufficient food. 

Thanks for another great week,