11/13 Weekly Email

Hi all, 

Just a few new things this week and then some reminders/surveys from prior weeks. 

FHL Donation and Donation Incentives: We are about 1.5 months from 2026 and I wanted to update members on our Union Business (UB) needs for this coming year. As a reminder we use UB time to run our organization - everything we do to from answering emails and phone calls to negotiating our MOU relies on UB time. I have been tracking the UB time myself and other union board members have used in the past few months and believe we will need 8 hours of FHL time from each of our members to cover our UB needs in 2026. We will actually probably need a little more time than that to account for unplanned emergencies and maybe start the member-run committees, but we’re not asking for that from our members - we believe we can make up those hours through our voluntary donation process. 

Speaking of which…we do not have a finalized process yet but the UAEA Board plans to incentivize donations of extra FHL hours this year. We would like to both cover our needs and build up a small bank of excess hours - this would help us potentially reduce our needed FHL time in future years. Members and non-members would be able to donate FHL hours to us and would receive entries into a raffle for some high-value gift cards and forms of recognition. Perhaps most importantly, every member will automatically receive entries into these gift card drawings for their mandatory donation of FHL time - you’re free to donate more hours to increase your chances, but you will always have a chance to win something just with your mandatory donations. Expect more details in the next few weeks. 

Finally, I just wanted to reiterate something I’ve said before - this donation model is a good but imperfect solution that we will continue to improve upon. We are trying to get more City Business (CB) time allocated in our MOU negotiations to further reduce the number of UB hours we need each year. We are also continuing to look at how other Arizona unions have adapted to this change and are perfectly willing to consider other solutions if we can find a model that is more fair or legally defensible. Finally, we are perfectly willing to consider returning hours to members if we ever build up a surplus, but we’re not currently at the point where we can do that. 

Bulletin Board Updates: I’ve attached a few files that I have been printing and posting on bulletin boards. If you haven’t seen them yet, they include an upcoming list of member meetings, a flyer with QR code links to the holiday party signup, and a list of upcoming events in and around Tempe. I’ll talk more about this in coming weeks but I wanted to let people know that our January 15th members meeting will be our first-ever UAEA annual meeting where our board will discuss what we’ve worked in in 2025 and what we’re planning to work on in 2026. It will take place both in the morning at the TMOC facility and at midday at the library and should be a good opportunity for people to get fully briefed on where we are as a union and where we plan to go. Stay tuned for more details. 

Food Bank & Misc Resources: Due to disruptions in SNAP funding, I’m including a few resources below. Please take advantage of these if you are eligible or pass this along to friends or family who are impacted. Please note that my mention of these resources is not an endorsement of any of them - UAEA is not affiliated with these organizations and cannot speak to their respective quality or offerings. 

AZ Food Bank Network: This link contains information about dozens of food banks and assistance sites across Arizona. You can search by the directory and the zipcodes they provide services for to find food banks in your areas. 

AZ Medical and Nutrition Assistance: This is an Arizona-State run program that can help connect people with Arizona State programs that provide assistance for people who need medical coverage or access. I do not know all that the program entails. 

Maricopa County Utility Support: This is a Maricopa County program that can help people receive assistance paying for utilities. Some cities have unique offerings while others are covered under one umbrella program. 

AZ 211: This is a Arizona-State run help line that can help people connect with a variety of resources and support they may be unaware of in their area. 

Salvation Army Christmas Assistance: This link allows people to sign up if they need help providing Christmas presents for their children. 

Tempe Employee Relief Fund: This is a Tempe-run program (paid for by employee donations) that can provide support of up to $1,200 to assist Tempe employees with unplanned emergency bills (housing, mortgage, utilities, etc). 

Aldi Thanksgiving: Aldi locations have cut prices to offer a $40 Thanksgiving deal that includes basically everything someone needs to host a traditional Thanksgiving meal for 10 people. I know Thanksgiving is an important holiday for many members - check this out if money is tight. 

SNAP Discounts: The Arizona Secretary of State is tracking businesses who are offering free meals to people impacted by SNAP cuts or opportunities to support the community. I also found a list of discounts that SNAP participants are eligible for, including deals on phone plans and legal services. 

Storm Response Survey: I put together a very brief survey for members to provide feedback about how their workgroups responded to the major storm on 10/13/25. Please provide UAEA with some feedback and/or suggestions about things that went well or ways that you think your workgroup could improve their responses in the future. I can bring up responses in some upcoming Labor Management Meetings and hopefully make life easier down the road. 

Holiday Party RSVP: This is the rsvp for our annual holiday party. I will be updating bulletin boards across the City this coming week with a poster and QR codes for this event. We will be at Spokes on Southern from 430pm to 7pm on Thursday, December 4th. Please note that this is the first year we will be allowing plus ones - you can bring a friend, partner, or family member as long as they are above 21 (Spokes has restricted entry for underage individuals). Please also make sure to rsvp by Thursday, November 27th - we need to give a final count to Spokes a week in advance. 

We recognize that this time may overlap with some member’s normal work schedules. We apologize for the inconvenience and want to do something for those who can’t attend due to their work schedule - if that applies to you, please fill out this survey. 

Employee Development Survey: I’ve been working with Employee Development to identify some barriers employees face when trying to attend their classes. We have a little data but could use more to help us make fewer assumptions about employee behavior. We’re both very interested in ensuring that all employees, regardless of workgroup, work location, or work schedule, have access to at least 10 hours of professional development training each year if they want to take advantage of it. I’ve attached an anonymous survey that members can fill out - it should only take about 5 minutes and the information we get will be used to improve training access. 

November Meeting RSVP:  Our final member’s meeting of 2025 will be held on November 20th at the Apache PD substation from 5-6pm. Please rsvp here by tonight at 5pm.

Employee of the Quarter: Our next round of Employee of the Quarter closes on December 1st (finalists will be announced in our January newsletter). If you would like to be considered (or would like to nominate a peer), please fill out the application (it takes 5 minutes) before the end of day on December 1st. The UAEA Board had a nice selection of candidates to choose from for Q4 - we’d love to see even more nominations to start off 2026. If you would like a refresher on program rules, check out this blog post.