12/19 Weekly Email
Hi all,
I am back from my vacation and excited to start work on some new projects for 2025. I am deeply appreciative of Vice President Leah Sergeant representing UAEA in multiple meetings and Treasurer Brian Gonzales manning the union phone while I was out. Some of this email will be rehashed information from prior correspondence but I promise there are some new tidbits that are worth taking the time to read.
First, MOU Updates. We submitted a request to the City in November to reopen our MOU to discuss union business (UB) time. The City gave their initial response last week and we should begin meeting in January to negotiate. The negotiation team will need to keep the content of negotiations confidential during the process but I’m more than happy to answer member questions as we proceed.
Second, Class and Comp Study. Information about the Class and Comp study should be coming in early 2025. I want to encourage individuals who feel they may currently be underpaid to gather some information about their position and comparable roles in other cities in preparation for the initial release of information. UAEA will be taking a close look at the data but we do not know everything about every Tempe role and expect there may need to be some adjustments made to the initial release. We cannot promise anything but having information ready to go will greatly increase our odds of success.
Third, Employee of the Quarter. The UAEA board met on Tuesday and selected the first 4 winners of our Employee of the Quarter program. We will be announcing them in our January 2025 Newsletter but I wanted to both thank people for submitting applications and encourage people to start nominating people for Quarter 2 of 2025. Applications for that round will be due by March 1st of 2025. The full list of rules for this program can be found on our website.
Fourth, Winter Holiday Leave. As I’ve mentioned in prior emails, please make sure you use your WHL time by January 31st, 2025. This time is forfeited if you do not use it by that date and it is several hours you could be using to buy last-minute presents, prep holiday dinners, or just de-stress. For information on using WHL, please check Section 4-2-1 of UAEA’s MOU.
Finally, please do not forget that new members who join UAEA prior to the end of 2024 will receive a $25 gift card, effectively covering the first month’s dues. If you have any coworkers who are on the fence, this is the time for them to sign up - the UAEA Board has no plans for future promotions at this time. Please also remember that if the new member puts your name down on the application as the person who referred them, you will be entered into a drawing for a gift card as well. I’ve attached a copy of our membership application to this email - you can also find one online on our website’s document’s page.
In case you’re not around next week for my next email, enjoy your time off and Happy Holidays!
Joel Guy