1/16/25 Weekly Email

Hi all, 

I have a couple of quick updates this week. 

First, Monthly Meeting Minutes. I’ve attached a copy of the meeting minutes from today’s membership meeting. The content was mainly comprised of repeats of prior information but we also had a good discussion on UB time and what UAEA knows about the JDQ process.  

Second, Public Housing. Irma Cain, Deputy Director of Tempe’s Housing Services reached out ,to let me know that the Tempe Coalition for Affordable Housing is opening up a waitlist for individuals or families who are interested in rent-controlled housing. This program provides preference to individuals employed in Tempe and/or whose children attend Tempe public schools and who make less than 80% of the area’s median income. The program manages 70 units and 12 units, ranging from 1-4 bedrooms, are currently available. More details are in the attached email. If you are interested in renting or would like more information, reach out to their property management company MEBA, specifically Danielle Amorosa at 602-858-1259, (danielle.amorosa@mebaffordable.com). 

Third, Health Screenings. Tempe offers free health screenings on an annual basis. Not only is this a good way to check on cholesterol, glucose, and blood pressure levels, it also counts towards 50 points of the 100 needed to get your health insurance discount. One important point - this is also a requirement to get the health insurance discount (though you can do it with the City for free or at your primary care doctor). Screenings can be scheduled at multiple locations throughout the City throughout the month of February. Check out this link on the Bridge for more information and the signup link. 

Fourth, MLK Day. This coming Monday, January 20th, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday. If you’re not scheduled, please remember to not show up to work. As always, we are grateful to the employees who need to work the holiday to keep the City functioning. 

MLK is often remembered as a civil rights leader but I think many people forget how actively he and his movement was involved in labor rights as well. Many people have heard at least excerpts of his “I have a Dream” speech but few remember that it was during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom event, a multi-racial protest for both human and labor rights. One of the demands of the marchers was for a universal $2/hour minimum wage, something that seems unimportant until you understand that it translates to $20.75/hour today. I won’t pretend to be a King scholar but it’s my understanding that he saw the movement for labor rights and civil rights as inseparable. I’m nowhere near as elegant of an orator as he was, but the idea makes intuitive sense - if organizations are allowed to treat certain classes of people differently due to arbitrary characteristics, those abuses will eventually trickle down to the rest of the workers. It also undermines the unity that is necessary for organized labor to be successful. 

This isn’t hyperbole - there are multiple examples of this occurring throughout US history. One tragic example is that of the 1894 Pullman strikes where the majority of railroad commerce west of Detroit was shut down by the American Railway Union. 125,000 workers walked off of their factory jobs to protest a brutal and unnecessary 25% reduction in their worker’s wages by George Pullman (owner of the Pullman Company, a railroad car manufacturer). They then formed a unified coalition to block the movement of Pullman railroad cars until their demands were met. There were several reasons the strike was ultimately unsuccessful, including federal intervention against the strikers, but a major component was the fact that the ARU refused to accept African-American railroad employees into their union. At the time, African-American employees comprised 44% of the Pullman Company’s workforce, so the ARU missed out on the assistance of literally tens of thousands of additional able-bodied employees who could have made a difference in their efforts and further thrown wrenches into the Pullman Company’s plans. The refusal to build a coalition broke the back of the ARU, led to the imprisonment of its leaders, and led to a decades’ long decline in the power of American unions. 

I bring this up because I think the legacy of MLK is still very relevant to the work our union does. Diversity is valuable not just because of the qualities and insights that workers from different backgrounds can bring to our ranks but also because of the power it can lend us. A unified front that refuses to abide abuses of our fellow workers will always be more powerful than one that accepts that certain abuses or oversights are okay. To that end, UAEA will not stop fighting for equal pay and treatment of employees regardless of their race, sex, sexual orientation, age, class, or disability. We also categorically reject abuse of any kind by our members and will terminate people’s membership if they are found to have violated our anti-harassment ordinances. That said, the fight for equal treatment is not one the board can wage alone and we hope we can count on our members to help us achieve Dr King’s vision in their workplaces every day. 

Thanks for a great week everyone!